Decoding Honour Killing
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SSRG International Journal of Humanities and Social Science (SSRG-IJHSS) Volume 4 Issue 6 Nov to Dec 2017 Decoding Honour Killing Dr. Ashok T. Borkar Department of Sociology, R T M Nagpur University Campus Nagpur 440044 Abstract parental concern maintain the traditional caste This paper is an attempt to develop the society. Hardly 5 percent youngsters prefer love conceptual frame for understanding the hidden marriage. 74 percent Indians still prefer arrange process behind honour killing focusing on the marriage. 48 percentage women in South Asia forced patriarchy and caste - gender relations shown to marry before eighteen years of age. Risk of through this process. A Marathi movie Sairat was marriage itself, instability in marriage, challenges released in 2016 in which a young couple was posed by family and society, cultural difference, risk brutally killed for their inter-caste marriage in the of property, increasing uncertanity in life and tension name of family pride and socially it was justified in are all parts of love marriage, especially inter-caste the name of honour killing. This movie triggers a and inter-religion. These all fears and risks are a part discourse in society. Haryana state is famous for its of the processes of socialisation, imitation, Khap panchayats and honour killing but after some sanskritisation, genderisation and in Hindu society it search it was found that it is not only in India and in is a part of Hinduisation with an inbuilt blend of Hindus but it is in other countries, where Hindus and caste, casteism and caste supremacy. Mahatma south Asian Muslim are part of the society, honour Gandhi, B. R. Ambedkar, Arya Samaj, Narayan Guru killing is in practice. This paper is an attempt to find were among those who promotes and proliferates out the answers of some questions like, what honour inter caste marriage for making new India and killing is all about? What is its traditional base? egalitarian Hindu society who stand on values of Who, how, when, whom and why the killing? Is it a liberty, equality and fraternity. It shows the first or final expression of aggression? And to find importance of inter caste and inter religious marriage out the facts about honour killing? In short, this and social control over it. paper is about Sociology of Honour Killing. Keywords - Love marriage, honour killing, caste, Blend of caste and patriarchy is vital part of patriarchy etc. Hindu social order. Even in the process of modernisation and globalisation control over female Killing enemy brings honour to solders sexuality and reproduction maintained the patriarchy family and community is a simple statement shows and caste based traditional social order. Honour that killing is not bad when it is related with enemy of killing is also a part of exclusion, social the family, community or nation. Such kind of acts discriminations and boundary maintenance. National not only brings honour to killers but shows the Commission for women released a report stating that mightiness of community and intolerance related with it had documented 327 cases of honour killing in five any anti-social activity committed by any family major states, they are UP-141, Delhi-71, member, especially female against social sanctions. Maharashtra-40, MP-38 and Haryana-37 in 2017. In traditional India inter-caste, inter-religious, cross- These are the reported cases of only five state, shows cultural, love-marriage, inter-community marriage, that the national figure of Honour killing is much marriage within village, marriage in neighbourhood, more than the reported one. Just think about it, in marriage in taboo relations, illicit (?) sex relations of Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu states you see strong married or unmarried female - adultery, marriage in social reform movements led by Ambedkar and different sects, marriage with person whose socio- Narayan Guru but still you find strong social economic status is low as compared to female‟s discrimination against Dalits, than what about the family etc. are socially prohibited and if someone other states? especially female found in such kind of act, it is socially believed that this dishonoured family, Human right watch defines honour killing kinship and community. To regain its honour family as, „Honour killings are acts of vengeance, usually members punished their disrespectful daughter and death, committed by male family members, who are her partner. Sometimes this punishment is so saviour held to have drought dishonour upon the family. A that they kill both. woman can be targeted by (individuals within) her family for a verity of reasons, including: refusing to Fear of social boycott, missing support from enter into an arranged marriage, being the victim of a parental family, exclusion from parental property, sexual assault, seeking a divorce – or (allegedly) fear of physical torture and even killing - lynching are committing adultery. The mere perception that a the live practises which restricts young Indian in woman has behaved in a way that “dishonours” her selecting mate beyond caste boundary and without family is sufficient to trigger an attack on her ISSN: 2394 - 2703 www.internationaljournalssrg.org Page 42 SSRG International Journal of Humanities and Social Science (SSRG-IJHSS) Volume 4 Issue 6 Nov to Dec 2017 life.‟(HRW). Srivastava defined it as, „An honour society throughout the world. Exchange of women in killing is the homicide of a member of a family or sub-caste or within caste is called endogamous social group by other members, due to the belief the marriage, restricting women to get married with the victim has brought dishonour upon the family or man outside the caste is a part of it. Exogamy is a community. The death of the victim is viewed to reverse process of endogamy. It simply means restore the reputation and honour of the family‟. controlling exogamy in favour of endogamy, maintains the statuesque of caste system (Sinha, 27). Theoretical grounding For maintaining this statuesque controlling woman, Traditional Indian society based on the web her mind and her body is a necessary act. The process of family, kinship and marriage. Marriage gives of socialisation and social practises doesn‟t allow her membership of family for the young couple and the to think even for love, love-marriage and mate relatives of these two parties are kinship groups. In selection. Killing couples, who involved in such South Asian countries and societies like India, practises create fear in the society. It threatened them Pakistan and Bangladesh where Hindu and Islam are for their daring. The message is very clear, „Don‟t dominant religions, marriage is must for each and dare!‟. It is nothing but every individual in normal condition – it is a customary law each one has to follow and especially HONOUR KILLING! women have no escape. Those who refute this It is quite natural for a young – adolescents institution are abnormal, categorised as sage, to get attract normally towards opposite sex, mentally retarded or physically challenged. For especially within same age group. It is a socio- young unmarried female marriage is must. Marriage psychological process and when these attractions get give a family to a young woman, her own family and converted into mutually accepted relations between family means the web of kinship, a basic club of these two, it is love. It happened in closer ones, who ascribed membership related with sub-caste. The are in frequent contact with each other – it is bundle of few sub-castes related with similar kind of neighbourhood love, quite natural, quite normal. For traditional occupations and observes similar kind of restricting these love affairs of young, Hindu society laws, beliefs and practises related with purity and manage to marry them in their childhood or even pollution rites in specific geographical area and in early childhood. It affects entire life of female and specific language are identified as castes. Each sub- eventually she is become slave of her own caste. caste and caste follows endogamous marriage practises. Exogamous marriages are prohibited. In contemporary society age of female and male marriage is increasing. As per government of Membership of caste is available by India the age of marriage for girl is 18 years and for marriage or by birth. Membership of caste can female boy it is 21 years. Child marriage is a punishable act who follow Anulom marriage, means girl or woman but still around 50 percent of girls getting married allowed to get married within her own caste or in the before 18 years‟ age and as early as 11 years of age. upper caste. In this system, a man can get married Because of law, social and educational demand the within his own caste or with lower caste female. age of marriage for female is increasing in Indians. Pratilom marriage is a taboo one, in which a girl get Increasing age of marriage and social contact with married with lower caste man or a man get married people other than family members increases the with higher caste female. There are some other laws chances of love and affection with the person who is regulating marriages in caste system, these are Gotra not belong to their caste, status, race, religion or and Kula exogamy. Each sub-caste is a bundle of culture. Kulas or Gotras. All the members of each Kulas or Gotras are brother or sisters, they never allowed to Neighbourhood is the place in which most of get married within Kulas, Gotras or within village. the love cases found and therefore it is important to Along with that, cross cousin marriage is favourable find out neighbourhood love phenomenon. one; village brotherhood is maintained - that means Neighbourhood consists of locality in which people no one allowed to get married within village.