Honor Killing

Idea of honor & Khap Panchayat

Presented by RajenderKumar(2010CH10106) Vimal Kumar(2010CH10127)

Points to be discussed:-

Introduction to honor killing Reasons behind the honor killing Khap Panchayats & their ideology Gender notion of honor

Caste & gotra factor in marriage Honor killing : cultural & medical defenses How problem to be resolved

Honor killing :An introduction

HONOR KILLING is first used by the Dutch turkey expert of the university of Leiden Ane Nauta in 1978. Referred as Customary Killing or Domestic Public Violence , it is a social evil dominating in north India specially. In honor killing males of the family kills their own daughter ,sister for bringing dishonor to their family.

Reasons behind honor killing

On bringing dishonor to family by Violation of

- caste endogamy principle & - gotra exogamy principle in marriages - other existing traditional norms of marriages -dress code for female

Engaging in lesbian or gay relationship.

Idea of honor

Both man & woman embody notion of honor, but differently - woman-repository of honor
-man-controller of this honor

Honor of family is connected to girl: importantly posited in her body

Idea of Honor :Gendered notion

Basic idea of sexual discrimination In epics- Ramayana ,Mahabharata

-women treated as object of whim -denied equal status as man Sita had to prove her fidelity Draupadi in case of Mahabharata .

Seed & earth concept(Dube 1986)

-woman & her womb being the earth -man & his semen representing the seed (active)

Idea of honor

We cant honor ourselves

It is confer on us by the society

Honor is lost when girl eloped with someone That honor can be regained only by killing the girl & sometimes both

Khap Panchayat :An introduction

Khap word originated from Sanskrit

Kha+Aap, kha relating to khagol & aap to water

meaning is that khaps limit is sky & it is as pure in character as transparent water Khap Panchayat is agglomeration of villages in multiple of six.
Its

Ideology of Khap Panchayat

Honor for men is connected with women.

women are considered as extension of themselves.

Marriages are allowed only if they are following

-caste endogamy -gotra exogamy -kinship exogamy Women are not allowed to attend the functioning of Panchayat

Ideology cont

According to them marriage is a social practice rather than an individual act. Desire ,love & choice are separated from the institution of marriage. Womans family tie martial knot with mans family.

Ideology of honor
On hurting the ideology : path of domestic violence is chosen . When young boys & girls challenge accepted norms of marriage

-family of such couple find it extremely difficult to face the society - either families made to suffer boycotts and excommunication from their village or for regaining the honor couple is killed.

Cases reflecting Khaps cruelty:

January 2010: Kavita of Rohtak district was forced to leave her husband after her marriage with Satish was termed illegal by Beniwal khap. Panchayat declared them brother and sister because they belonged to the same got. The couple had a son! June 20: Six people booked for the death of Monika and her lover Pinku, including her two brothers, in Bhiwani district of Haryana. June 1: Pravendra, a lad from Kherwa village, near Lucknow, allegedly killed sister Pushpa, because of her lover.

Manoj & Bubli case

Cases cont..
Manoj & Babli case is one of them They married against the wishes of khap panchayat & communities in 2007. Pressure was put on their family. Finally they become the victim of domestic violence.

Gotra & kinship exogamy

All members of a gotra share a patrilineal descent from a common ancestor. Marriage is not allowed
-if girl & boy are from same gotra - if girl & boy are from same village they are considered as brother & sister. Will you justify the marriage b/w brother & sister??

Medical ethics

Inbreeding :reproduction between two individuals with a common ancestor. Inbreeding leads to
-higher probability of congenital birth defects -increase in spontaneous abortion of zygotes -increase in perinatal deaths -similar immune system more vulnerable to diseases. Medical ethics supporting the gotra exogamy principle.

Caste endogamy principle

Inter-caste marriages are not included in their cultural norms. Hindu marriage act is changed But traditional communities are living in their own moral universe. Untouchability is still existing there.

Problem with justice

In powerful democratic India it is very shameful we have no control over these crimes. is totally inhumanity to kill the young people on the name of honor. There is nothing honourable in honour killings or other atrocities. It makes no distinction between honour killing or murdering a person.

Judiciary cont.

Such crimes committed by brutal, feudal minded persons deserve harsh punishment. Moreover, these acts take the law into their own hands, and amount to kangaroo courts, which are wholly illegal. The officials who failed to prevent such incidents or apprehend the culprits should also be charge sheeted. Who should have the right of punishment?

Questions??

It is perfectly legitimate for each community to insist on the right to decide for itself what aspects of tradition they wish to cherish and what they wish to discard or reform, provided its leaders can enforce community norms through democratic consensus and not life threatening forms of coercion. Why should we compel people to discard practices and kinship values simply because they are traditional as long as they do not impose those values through violence?