Honour killing, law and courts : A prismatic view

Pages: 556-559
J. S. Jakhar (Chairperson and Dean, Faculty of Law, Ch. Devi Lal University, Sirsa, Haryana)

There has been a chequered history of origin and development of customs, belief and norms for regulating interactions between individuals and groups. For last three decades, we have witnessed that the customs and social taboo under the garb of gotra-patrilineal pedigree-have unleashed controversies, conflicts and communitarian disharmony, especially due to matrimonial alliances which have come into conflict with formal codes of law. The couples who defy customary practice are excommunicated, lynched, tortured and killed in the name of honour. This paper makes an attempt to discuss the related issues from legal perspective. For the purpose, case No. 26 of 2009 pronounced by the trial court, Karnal is taken up as a reference point, in which Manoj and Babli, who defied the social taboo of sagotra in Haryana.