Landmark verdict in an honour-killing case in India

Discussion in 'News & Politics' started by Gauri03, Apr 5, 2010.

  1. Gauri03

    Gauri03 Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

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    For the first time ever an Indian sessions court has awarded the death penalty to 5 people for brutally murdering a young couple who dared to marry against the diktats of a village Khap panchayat. Khap panchayats are kangaroo courts that fancy themselves the defenders of caste honor and issue fatwas against inter-caste marriages. In this case the murders were committed after a khap panchayat declared the marriage invalid. The fact that this verdict came within 3 years of the actual murders is in itself a miracle which anyone familiar with the Indian legal system will appreciate.

    Here is an interview with the indomitable mother who fought the big fight for justice and won. The case is far from over and the verdict will surely be
    appealed. The policemen who abetted the crime haven't even been charged. But in spite of the shortcomings, this is a landmark verdict. Hopefully it will pave the way for legislation against this heinous practice of oppressing women in the name of community honor.
     
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  2. bhuvnidhi

    bhuvnidhi IL Hall of Fame

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    What a great Mom!She is truly an inspiration.Inspite of being uneducated , she knows what is right and what is wrong and she has the guts to stand up.:bowdown.

    It is a shame that the so called educated still kill their daughters , sons , relatives in the name of "caste","honor' etc..What kind of monsters are they?:rant

    I hope even the others are hung.
     
  3. BeeAmma

    BeeAmma Silver IL'ite

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    Sounds more like they belong to the same gotra due to which the villagers were against it(??). Did not sounds like it was due to caste. , usually if both belong to same gotra, they will change the gotra of girl before marriage so I am not sure here

    Anyways, good that the law of the land could punish the guilty. May the victims souls rest in peace.
     
  4. Pankajini

    Pankajini Senior IL'ite

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    Hats-off to this determined Mother who stood against all odds for justice. But at the same time, I am also astonished to hear another case where a mother killed her own daughter, a journalist who intended to marry her buddy from different caste. It’s just unbelievable that a mother can kill her child for false pride.

    However I am ambiguous about our judiciary system as recent verdict on Bhopal gas tragedy has left all Indians wonder the true meaning of justice and the victims agonizing their fate in so called developing country.
     
  5. IndainDad

    IndainDad New IL'ite

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    Kudos to the mom for her courage!

    The guilty would get bail. They will most probably die before our senseless and senile judiciary will rule on the appeals. I am guessing they will go to both the High Court and Supreme Court.

    This particular case is not so much a man-woman thing, is it? The fatwas issues by khaps are always against the couple.
     
  6. IndainDad

    IndainDad New IL'ite

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  7. Gauri03

    Gauri03 Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

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    Well, the murderers are almost invariably members of the woman's family. The men's families tend to take such marriages a little bit (a very little bit) better. I have never heard of a man being killed by his family for dishonoring the clan. The anger is directed primarily at the woman for daring to go against her brothers, uncles, father, grandfather, grandfather's uncles and so on; For soiling the families 'honor'. That's what puts the 'honor' in these dishonorable killings! The man, sadly, is just collateral damage. In any case, murdering the couple seems to be a unique feature of such murders in India. In most other countries that have this practice such as Pakistan, Afghanistan etc., I have only heard of the woman being murdered. Hence the conclusion that this mainly a woman thing.

    PS: I just noticed the 'this particular case' in your statement above. I was speaking generally. You are right that the fatwa was for both in this case, but here again the murders were carried out in collusion with the girl's family. The boy's poor mother was the only sane person in this whole sordid saga.
     
    Last edited: Jun 12, 2010
  8. Gauri03

    Gauri03 Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

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    Haven't heard about that one but yes, mothers do murder their children. Less so than fathers and brothers, but they surely do. In fact a few decades ago in missing children cases, it was unthinkable to consider a mom as a potential suspect. Now, they are one of the first people on the list. In many of these honor killings too, moms play their roles which are no less heinous than the people who actually slaughter the girls. It is the moms who get the victims to trust them and promise them that they will talk to the dad and convince him and other such false promises and lure them back to their homes where they are then massacred. One would think 225 million years of mammalian evolution would have eliminated such cruelty from within a human mother, after all, survival is the goal here. But I suppose personal survival trumps the survival of the species. So mothers killing their babies is not really that unbelievable.
     
    Last edited: Jun 12, 2010

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