Preview

Honor Killing in India

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2105 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Honor Killing in India
Honor killing in India
An honor killing or honour killing (also called a customary killing) is the murder of a member of a family or social group by other members, due to the belief of the perpetrators (and potentially the wider community) that the victim has brought dishonour upon the family or community. Honour killings are directed mostly against women and girls. The perceived dishonor is normally the result of one of the following behaviors, or the suspicion of such behaviors: a. dressing in a manner unacceptable to the family or community, b. wanting to terminate or prevent an arranged marriage or desiring to marry by own choice, c. engaging in heterosexual sexual acts outside marriage, or even due to a non-sexual relationship perceived as inappropriate, and d. engaging in homosexual acts. Women and girls are killed at a much higher rate than men.
Recently, there has been a spate of honor killings in the country and this has led the government to decide what laws should be put in place to stop this heinous crime. Also whether the Hindu Marriage Act should be reformed or not is being debated. So what is the definition of honour killing and what leads families to commit this heinous crime so that they can protect their family honour? Is this practice prevalent only in India or is it prevalent in other parts of the world also? What are the misconceptions regarding honour killing and what are the solutions to stop this crime from spreading? These are the questions that society find the answer…
In my opinion Honour killing is defined as a death that is awarded to a woman of the family for marrying against the parent’s wishes, having extramarital and premarital relationships, marrying within the same gotra or outside one’s caste or marrying a cousin from a different caste. Honour killing is different from the dowry deaths that are also a very common practice in India as, in the case of dowry deaths, the perpetrators of that action claim

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    One of the key legal acts that has defined the term marriage, relationships, divorce and…

    • 964 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Suzanne Ruggi’s article explains the wrongful Honor Killings that occur mainly in Palestinian society, and the struggle that women and girls face to get rid of the ritual that dominates their society. Ruggi’s article begins with a brief definition of Honor killings, which she defines as the execution of female family members for misuse of their sexuality or for bringing shame to their family’s name. She explains that males of the same family mainly do these killings, and that they are widely accepted amongst the people of the Middle East. Ruggi continues her essay by elaborating on the hardships that Palestinian Activists face when trying to discontinue these killings all together. She specifically mentions that the killings are not well documented…

    • 179 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Indian Killer by Sherman Alexie is a novel about the violence and chaos caused by the destruction of the Native American identity. In the book, Native Americans strive to figure out who they are while violence continues to grow around them. Native Americans are angry with white people because they are tired of being oppressed. Whites are angry with Native Americans because they no longer want them. And in this ferocious, never-ending cycle of anger and violence, the Indian Killer is created. To some people, the Indian killer is an Indian who is killing innocent white people out of revenge. To others, the Indian Killer kills Indians by causing violence against…

    • 848 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    marriage typically argue that the institution of marriage is defined as a religious union between…

    • 1513 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Psychology Practice Exam

    • 1718 Words
    • 7 Pages

    |B) |homosexuals are more likely than heterosexuals to have been overprotected by their mothers. |…

    • 1718 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Indian Killer: Analysis

    • 2971 Words
    • 12 Pages

    Sherman Alexie paints the reader a picture in his book Indian Killer. He uses every possible element to his advantage. This includes his use of structure and form. Alexie uses these two elements in the shape of flashbacks, dreams and dream-like situations, the beginning compared to the end of the book, and the order in which events progress through the plot line.…

    • 2971 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Have you ever wondered how far a person would go to save their family’s honor? In the novella Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Bayardo San Roman finds out his new wife, Angela Vicario, is not a virgin which stimulates him to revoke their marriage. The humiliation generated by the absence of Angela's virginity drives her brothers, Pablo and Pedro, to murder Santiago Nasar. Their motive for the crime is to obtain their family’s honor back. Gabriel Garcia Marquez depicts honor through gender, family, the people of the town and predominantly, the death of Santiago Nasar to speculate the concept and value of honor in the Colombian culture.…

    • 479 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    (b) Sexual abuse – this is direct or indirect involvement in sexual activity without valid consent…

    • 1301 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Ethos Speech

    • 611 Words
    • 3 Pages

    I. Having an affair may be one of the few things in a marriage that is still frowned upon by the general public.…

    • 611 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Monogamy In Canada

    • 1013 Words
    • 5 Pages

    1) “The practice of marrying or state of being married to one person at a time”…

    • 1013 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Honor has always been a central aspect of one’s identity. People go great lengths to keep and prove their honor. Honor is a popular topic that is regularly seen throughout literature, but what exactly is honor? Honor today is seen as one’s integrity and protecting one’s values and beliefs. But it has not always been that way.…

    • 1307 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Some cultures put a lot more emphasis on honor and are willing to go alot further in the name of honor than others. The Japanese people, for example, are a people that with strong emphasis on virtue. Around the time of World War Two, the Japanese people, after realizing that their troops were no match for their enemies, came up with a special attack unit now known as the Kamikaze Pilots. This unit consisted of dedicated pilots whose mission was to use themselves as ammunition and crash themselves into their enemies. This act of suicide they justified as Honor. It was believed that dying for your emperor and for your country would be a glorious and honorable death. It is insane to believe that in the name of honor people agreed to this act of suicide. According to research done by Justin McCurry, “By the end of the war, more than 3,800 pilots had died” (McCurry). When interviewing former kamikaze pilot Horiyama, Horiyama justifies his actions when he says, “We didn’t think too much [about dying], we were trained to suppress our emotions. Even if we were to die, we knew it was for a worthy cause. Dying was the ultimate fulfillment of our duty, and we were commanded not to return” (McCurry). In other words, for the Japanese people dying in the name of honor was simply the right thing to do. In our modern day society this act of obtaining honor seems insane and uncalled for but this…

    • 1713 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Love Death and Dishonour

    • 401 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In this article the author, Amy Kazmin, really expressed that the killing of Monika Dagar was not a coincidence and that there was nothing being done about it. She really felt that the police was not helping or investigating. I could really get the sense that she felt that way by just looking at her comments, "A girl is cremated without post-mortem and without medical assistance and there's nothing to investigate?" and "This couple knew their love would challenge India's traditional values of caste but put their trust in the rule of law.". Although the family of Monika Dagar was accused of murdering her("honour killing") it has not been confirmed yet the author seems to believe they are guilty. I believe it was the family "honour killing" their own daughter and that the police should have put themselves right in the case. It's unfair this happened and justice must be placed. If I were to see this happen to a friend or myself I would step in and the police would step in too, in matter of fact if it was anyone I know, I would. Now of course, this would never happen in Canada the police would step in immediately. Unfortunately, those teen's had a terrible experience and well one is dead and the other is extremely sad. In Canada, this experience is seen as a murder, not "honour killing" and there is no way the police would not get involved immediately with this case. It's really too bad that they had to go through such a situation and not see any justice follow. I think it really shows the differences between India and Canada. Now "honour killing" is one matter that I do not agree upon and arranged marriages is another. I think everyone should have the choice to choose who they want to marry. I mean marriage is a serious affair, it's choosing who you want to be with and love for your whole life. Arranged marriages however, do not give you such the option to marry your true love(in most cases) and it could make the couple unhappy for the…

    • 401 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Honor Killing

    • 5058 Words
    • 21 Pages

    In Pakistan and around the world, crimes against women in the name of honor have been occurring for long time but the level of exposure and coverage given to such crimes was not there until a decade ago. One does not find any discussion or usage of the term “Honor” or “Honor Killing” in the Print or Electronic Media 15 or 20 years back.…

    • 5058 Words
    • 21 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Violence against women is a technical term used to collectively refer to violent acts that are primarily or exclusively committed against women. Similar to a hate crime, this type of violence targets a specific group with the victim's gender as a primary motive.…

    • 2376 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays

Related Topics