theoryofabrogation

Tag: Gender Violence

Honour Killings In India

Honour Killings In India Honour killing is one of the cultural offences in the nation. The killing of a (usually female) family or clan member by one or more (mainly male) family members who feel the victim has brought dishonour upon the family, clan, or community is frequently referred to as a “customary killing“. As honour killings are not gender-specific, many of their occurrences go unreported and uninvestigated due to the embarrassment that such an admission would entail. The main goal is to make the family member look bad. Three sections make up the current article. In the first section, there is a brief discussion of the definition of honour killing and its reasons. The laws that are already in place and those that have been proposed for judicial decisions to stop them are also included in the second part. The third and last portion of the article explores the potential for additional rules and regulations to apply to it. Introduction Honour killings are carried out by relatives who believe that doing so will purify their group. They murder one of the members to earn back the family’s reputation and rid them of the shame and disgrace that that person had brought upon them. A male relative murders the female who disobeyed them and disobeyed the family. This is a type of premeditated murder perpetrated against the person who disgraced the family. Most often, these behaviours result from triggers set off by close family members, the community, or nearby neighbours who make the accused feel degraded and agitated. Most of these are directed at females who are thought to have committed sexual or marital crimes. When a member of the community chooses someone from a different caste, it creates inequity in a society where everyone is treated fairly and without prejudice. Since a girl’s caste and position shift when she reaches her husband’s home, caste and status are the main causes of it in the modern world. The study’s objectives are to learn more about honour killing, emphasise its seriousness, educate society about its repercussions, and look into the contributing elements. Background In many different societies today, honour killing is still a long-standing ritual. It started long before the Islamic era, but they were more common during it. Some authors assert that honour killing happens everywhere, while others assert that it is specific to certain communities in Southeast Asia and the Middle East, where it is deeply ingrained in traditions and customs that date back to ancient times. Some analysts claim that the Baleech and Pashtun tribes of Balochistan engaged in the practice of honour killing. In the past, adultery and rape were regarded as immoral behaviours in Rome, and women’s lives were taken to preserve the honour of the home and community. Women are seen as less than men in Greek society, but they are also the victims of men. It has been proven that numerous women were executed for adultery or on suspicion of adultery in ancient Egypt and among American tribes under the guise of honour crimes. Definition Of Honour Killing According to Human Rights Watch, “honour killings” are acts of violence, most often murder, carried out by male family members against female family members who are believed to have tarnished the family name. For many reasons, a woman may come under the family’s wrath, such as refusing to participate in an arranged marriage, being the victim of sexual assault, requesting a divorce—even from an abusive husband—or engaging in adultery. An attack on a woman’s family can begin simply with the idea that she has acted in a way that “dishonours” them. Reasons Of Honour Killing The following are the specific justifications for honour killing. Refusal to accept an arranged marriage: Whether a male or female family member refuses to accept the marriage that has been planned by the family, they will be slain for the benefit of the family. When a person declines the marriage that the family has arranged, the family members experience a certain amount of guilt. Divorce: The victim of an honour killing would be a married person who sought a divorce due to problems in their marriage with their family. When a member of the family feels that the victim would rather die than live, they may decide to kill the person themselves rather than seek a divorce because it will damage the family’s reputation. Family member allegations and rumours: The victim may become the target of family member allegations or rumours spread by the community at large. Because of their status and reputation, the family members would murder the member, whether they knew the truth or not. According to them, killing the victim will boost the family’s reputation and position. Homosexuality: It is now considered normal when love develops between people of the same sex. When a couple of the same sex wishes to live together, the family or society forbids it, which in turn leads to more and more accusations and upsets the family members. Victims of rape: Women are being raped in a society where they ought to be protected. In that scenario, it is the responsibility of the family to accept such victims, but they see it with shame and believe the girl’s life is over and she is wholly useless to them and society as a whole, so they plan to kill her. Inter-caste marriage: When a victim marries someone from a different caste, the party who views their caste as significant and more important than their family members suffers. In this situation, the lower caste member would rather kill the victim than allow them to live by raising their caste. They would kill the victim even though they were a member of their family in cases where the victim belonged to a lower caste because caste is the foundation of their prestige. Not only do their family members become victims, but the other party they want to live with also suffers. Legislative Framework Concerning Honour…

Indian Constitution, Law

Dowry Death

Dowry Death Is the death of the woman caused by any burns or bodily injury or occurs otherwise than under normal circumstances within 7 years of her marriage. Essential Ingredients Section 304 B of IPC gives essential ingredients of dowry death Death must be caused by burns or bodily injury or it must occur otherwise than in normal circumstances Death must occur within 7 years of marriage It must be shown that soon before her death the woman was subjected to cruelty or harassment by her husband or any relative of her husband. Such cruelty or harassment by her husband must be for or in connection with any demand for dowry. Here the dowry shall have the meaning as assigned to it under Section 2 of the Dowry Prohibition Act 1961. Another feature of this section, which can be said to be a departure from the normal feature of the code is that a minimum of not less than 7 years imprisonment is prescribed but which may extend to imprisonment for life. What is dowry death? In Bachni Devi V. State Of Haryana, the accused 2 and Bachni Devi were married on 12/5/1990. In less than 3 months of their marriage her mother-in-law had gone to the house of PW 8 Father of the deceased and told him that his son wanted to start a house milk vending business and for that purpose demanded a motorcycle. But the father of the deceased, being a  poor rikshawala showed his inability to fulfil her demand. Thereafter both the deceased ‘s husband A 2 and her mother-in-law, Bachni Devi badly harassed her and said that the deceased was not allowed to stay in the matrimonial home. kanta told her father about the ill-treatment of her husband. kanta was taken from her father’s house by her husband on the pretext that the engagement ceremony of her brother was to be performed which was false. The next her father was informed that Kanta was dead, therefore harassment driving the deceased to commit suicide is a dowry death, and the accused were liable to be convicted under Section 304 b I.P.C. for Dowry Death. Life Imprisonment Reduced To 10 Years Of Rigorous Imprisonment Pathan V. Hussain Basha  V. State Of A. P. It is a case relating to dowry death. The evidence of the father of the deceased and other witnesses shows that there was persistent demand for dowry by the accused husband of the deceased and her in-laws. They used to harass and even beat the deceased. The deceased died due to asphyxia as a result of hanging. Death took place within a few months of marriage. The accused led to no evidence explaining how and why the deceased died and his conduct immediately prior to and after the death of the deceased. It was held that the silence of the accused cannot be equated to the discharge of onus cast upon the accused by deeming fiction under section 113 b of the Evidence Act. Hence the accused was liable to be convicted. It was further held that considering the age of the accused, attending circumstances, and the fact that the accused had been in jail for a considerable period sentence of life imprisonment was reduced to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment. Reasons For Dowry Death Illiteracy rate Absence of proper law For the sake of social status Lack of knowledge Narcotic Gender discrimination Forms Of Cruelty Cruelty by vexatious litigation Cruelty by deprivation and wasteful habits Cruelty by persistent demand Cruelty by extramarital affair Harassment by nonacceptance of baby girl Cruelty by false attacks on Chasity Taking away children CONCLUSION Dowry is a sin in our society,  it’s not a ritual anymore, it’s a burden to girls’ parents that’s why girls are murdered in the mother’s womb after marriage girls are forced and pressured by in-laws and husbands, because of all that dowry death took place. We should have more strong legal binding to the accused so that this can be stopped right now and more dowry deaths would not happen. Written By Muskan Patel

Criminal Law