Honour-Killing

Though there’s nothing honourable in killing one’s kin to save the so called pride and prestige of one’s family, it’s called honour killing. Misconceived perception of honour and barbaric medieval mindset lead to these murders. Incidences of this ghastly act are mostly prevalent among some ethnic groups in North India and to some extent in Bihar also.Intercaste or intereligious marriages and even intragotra marital relations commonly provoke honour killing. In south India honour killing is significantly rare and what’s most heartening, in Bengal honour killing is an unheard of phenomenon. Imagine, mass agitation that followed Rizwanur Rahman’s post marital unnatural death. High ranking police officials were hauled to court and put behind bars. CBI enquiry was also held to unearth the truth regarding his death. What’s more, CBI probe could not satisfy the court which has ordered enquiry again. Had Rizwanur incident occurred in a Haryana or Rajasthan family in North India, he might have been honour-killed and perhaps nobody bothered about it at all. What’s most shocking, honour killings are on the rise and administration has failed to contain them within the existing legal frame work. Things have gone to such a pass Supreme court has intervened and Parliament is going to enact legislation having more stringent legal provisions to combat the menace.Perpetrators of these heinous and gory incidents in the name of saving their honour deserve to be awarded the severest of punishments law can afford. If the British could ban the Sati in the 19th century in the teeth of stiff opposition by the religious fanatics and people with vested interest, why can’t our government ban the barbaric act of honour killing in the 21st century? What’s needed is strong determination and good will to do away with this most inhuman and uncivilized act in civilized society.