HORRIFIC CRIME

          In less than three years, Tamil Nadu has witnessed 81 incidents of honour killings. Though honour killings are on the rise, not a single case has ended up in conviction in the state as family members are involved in such murders. In an attempt to cover up incidents of honour killings, the Tamil Nadu government dismisses incidents of honour killings and is one among the few states that has not submitted its report on it to the Supreme Court.

“As many as 22 states have given details on honour killings to the apex court,” he said, adding, that most cases of honour killings are merely passed off as suicides.

Of the 81 incidents of honour killings, 80 per cent of victims are women and 20 per cent are men.

“Caste Hindu women, who love or marry a Dalit are murdered by their family members. On the other hand Dalit women, who marry caste Hindu men, are ditched due to societal pressure. Almost 84 per cent of Dalit women, who are into inter-caste marriage face humiliation due to marital discord. Hence in both the cases it is woman who has been swayed. This is a horrific reminder of how caste and family honour continue to be prized over women's lives in world.

a 21-year-old student of Delhi University's Sri Venkateswara College was allegedly murdered by her parents for marrying her boyfriend against their wishes. The reason for her killing: the girl Bhavna had secretly married Abhishek, a boy from a different caste.

Nirupama Pathak murder of 2010:In May 2010, Nirupama Pathak, who was working as journalist with a business daily in Delhi, was murdered by her family in Jharkhand because she was in a relationship with a man from a lower caste.

Asha Saini murder case of 2010:In June 2010, Delhi witnessed a brutal honour killing in Swarup Nagar in North-east part of the city, when 19-year-old Asha Saini and her boyfriend Yogesh, 20, were tortured, electrocuted and beaten to death by the girl's family.As this Rediff report recounts, "the girl's family had disapproved of Asha's relationship with Yogesh, a driver, and had asked the boy to back off.The couple was tortured in a flat owned by the girl's uncle Omprakash and even neighbours who heard the couple wailing for hours and begging for help but didn't step in to help. Allegedly the family threatened the neighbours and told them to "mind their own business," says the report.

Monica and Kuldeep Murder of 2010:Another honour killing hit the headlines in Delhi in June 2010 when a couple, Monica and Kuldeep, along with Monica's sister Shobha were killed by their family members.Monica had married Kuldeep, who was a Rajput boy, and their families did not approve of the alliance. Both of them belonged to the Wazipur village of Delhi. Shobha on the other hand was involved in a relationship with a boy belonging to another caste and had reportedly helped her sister elope

Deepti Chhikara murder of 2012: In June 2012, reports came out that a young woman Deepti Chhikara was killed, and her body was then dumped in Uttarakhand. The girl, who was a school teacher at an MCD school, was strangled to death by her mother Birmati and brother Mohit, and later her uncle Amit helped the duo in disposing of the body

 June 1,  2015.Bulandshahr: Mother arrested for killing her daughterAfroz, 20, from abda village in Bulandshahr was killed by her own mother Rubina after she refused to give up her relationship with a boy

April 7, 2015, Chandigarh: Bodies of couple dumped in suitcases Bahalgarh police received a call regarding two unclaimed suitcases lying in a park, located on the GT road in Sonipat district. When the suitcases were opened, police recovered the naked bodies of a man and woman dumped separately in the two suitcases. While the woman's body was intact and she wore glass bangles similar to those of a newlywed bride

February 15,2015, Lucknow : 16-year-old girl murderedThe police are looking into the possibility of honour killing in the murder case of a minor girl in Kotwali area of Gonda district. The fact that the girl's family did not inform the police about the murder made the police suspicious. The girl, who had left home to relieve herself, was found dead after half an hour.

February 13,2015. Mathura: Girl burnt to death by mother and brother Neeraj Kumari's family was against her relationship with a youth from the same village, Ajay, and fixed her marriage with another person. As complications cropped up for the marriage, the mother and the brother first strangulated Kumari and then set her body on fire.

Pakistan's double-Oscar winner Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy has hailed new legislation outlawing the crime of 'honour killings' as a turning point in the long- battle on violence against women, as she sets her sights on conquering her country's silver screen.

The filmmaker cast a spotlight on the issue with her documentary A Girl In The River: The Price of Forgiveness - which bagged an Academy Award earlier this year. "It is very good in the case of honour killing we finally have a legislation that is stronger," she says.

In October, Pakistan's government passed legislation aimed at closing loopholes that allowed the perpetrators of such killings, often relatives of the victim, to walk free after they are pardoned by another member of their family. Now a pardon can only save a killer from the death penalty, but not from life imprisonment

25-year-old Qandeel was found strangled in her house in Multan, some 350km from Lahore, on July 16. Her father had alleged that she was killed by her younger brother, Waseem, in the name of honour. Waseem had confessed to having killed his sister 'in the name of honour'.

In his confession video, Waseem expressed no regret in killing his sister. "I am proud of what I did. I drugged her first then I killed her. She was bringing dishonour to our family," Waseem said.

Qandeel rose to fame due to her bold videos and pictures many considered as 'obscene' she posted on her Facebook account. Honour killing is common in Pakistan and every year hundreds of women are killed by male relatives for allegedly dishonouring the family.

Each and every individual has the right to live his or her own life according to their own wishes. After attaining the age of 18 and 21 by the girl and the boy respectively, the family has no right to force them into marriage or any other act if they are unwilling to do so. If an individual be it a boy or a girl feels that he or she wants to marry according to their wishes, their parents should accept the wishes.

In fact, parents only desire to see their children happy and if the children are happy, the parents should let them do what they desire. But for a number of families, their status and position in the society is so much more important than their kids that they do not mind killing them or sacrificing them just to maintain their desired status.Only one question comes into the mind of all the people- Is the society more important than your children? When asked all will say that their children are more important. But in some of the cases the reality is totally different. These people who kill their children for the breach of so called code of conduct of their societies are actually only concerned about their status and position in the society.

Such people can be termed as criminals who are far more dangerous than the terrorists. Terrorists kill people who are unknown to them. But these people who support honour killing and are a part of it are heartless because only a heartless individual can kill someone they love and that too for a baseless reason.

The government of India has formulated laws against honour killing but still this inhuman practice exists. In my opinion people involved in honour killing should also be treated as criminals and should be punished as severely as possible.