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India Indian Court Urges Death Penalty For 'Honour Killings'

Death Penalty for 'Honour Killings'? Do you Agree or Not?

  • I agree, explain why?

    Votes: 6 46.2%
  • I disagree, explain why?

    Votes: 5 38.5%
  • Unsure, explain why?

    Votes: 2 15.4%

  • Total voters
    13
Jan 6, 2005
3,450
3,762
Metro-Vancouver, B.C., Canada
May 9, 2011

Indian court urges death penalty for 'Honour Killings'
AFP - May 9, 2011 7:02

Photo: An Indian woman feeds the pigeons in front of The Gateway of India in Mumbai. Photograph by: Sajjad Hussain, AFP/Getty Images


NEW DELHI - India's top court said Monday the death penalty should be given to those found guilty of so-called honour killings, calling the crime a barbaric "slur" on the nation.

India has seen an upsurge in such killings that mainly involve young couples who marry outside their caste or against their relatives' wishes and are murdered to protect what is seen as the family's reputation and pride.

"It is time to stamp out these barbaric, feudal practices which are a slur on our nation," the Supreme Court said.

There are no official figures on honour killings, though an independent study last year suggested that as many as 900 were being committed every year in the northern states of Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh.

Many go unreported, with police and local politicians turning a blind eye to what some see as an acceptable form of traditional justice by families seeking to protect their honour.

"All persons who are planning to perpetrate 'honour' killings should know that the gallows await them," Justices Markandeya Katju and Gyan Sudha Mishra said in their ruling, adding that no one can take law into their own hands.

If someone is unhappy with the behavior of a relation, "the maximum he can do is to cut off social relations . . . but he cannot take the law into his own hands by committing violence or giving threats of violence," the bench said.

The court made the statements as it dismissed an appeal by Bhagawan Dass against a life sentence for strangling his daughter, Seema, in 2006 over an alleged extra-marital affair with a cousin.

India's Supreme Court only awards the death penalty in what it calls the "rarest of rare" category.

"In our opinion honour killings, for whatever reason, come within the category of rarest of rare cases deserving the death punishment," the court said.

However, when the Supreme Court does authorize executions, they are regularly delayed indefinitely or commuted by the president.

Last August, Home Minister P. Chidambaram said he would present a bill in parliament which will provide specific, severe penalties to curb such killings.

© Copyright (c) AFP

source:
http://www.{censored}/news/Indian+court+urges+death+penalty+honour+killings/4750627/story.html

 

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Ambarsaria

ੴ / Ik▫oaʼnkār
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Dec 21, 2010
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Gyani Jarnail Singh

Sawa lakh se EK larraoan
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Jul 4, 2004
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WOW..the Voting score is SAWA LAKH...was I surprised when i saw the RESULTS ?? Just ME..voting to disagree and its 100%..both the other choices..0 responses..ha ha

Anyway two wrongs dont make one right..so the SC hanging a honour killer wont bring nay honour to the SC either...its shame all the way.
 

Gyani Jarnail Singh

Sawa lakh se EK larraoan
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What will happen? If you have an enemy, kill his son/daughter and show it as a honour killing. Double blow.

Punjabis behave that way...
iF they cant kill....then on their deathbed..they will swear FALSELY and implicate the other side family...daughters and wives included...in the hope that the State will hang them !!
Thats why a British Judge once opined..NEVER beleive a DYING PUNJABI..he is sure to LIE all the way. ha ha how right.
 

Ambarsaria

ੴ / Ik▫oaʼnkār
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Dec 21, 2010
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What will happen? If you have an enemy, kill his son/daughter and show it as a honour killing. Double blow.
Kanwaljit.Singh ji I thought such was reserved for the rich or famous, police, judiciary and the politicians. Foxes guarding the chickens as they say.

This is just so called distraction politics. Keep people busy on sexy (quite real and noble in concept but insignificant in real terms) so they never focus on the real deal! Additionally I do not have the stats but I would not be surprised if a large percent of Honor killings back track into minorities like Sikhs and Muslims hence putting the majority on a pedestal. It is like another black mark against Sikhs and Muslims.

On another note, did you never (perhaps unfair question for you as may not be your time) spot the same gun in the pictures of fake encounters from the 80's in Punjab?

Sat Sri Akal.
 

spnadmin

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Jun 17, 2004
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Ambarsaria ji

Wow!!!! You put this together in a completely different light. Honor killings have to be squelched somehow. Personally I would not second-guess the efforts of the courts to do something about it, if only to speak out in the most unambiguous ways. Honor killing does occur among Hindus too. Back tracking to Sikhs and Muslims may not be the only track. This is an issue that affects all levels of society, but is particularly severe in areas run by the village panchayat. We have stories about this. Legitimacy comes for honor killings, corrective rapes, disfigurement, sati because of tribal codes, no matter religious adherence. But I think where you make the sharpest point: the way the issue is presented. It does indeed create another kind of caste ... the high minded who dispense of their moral duty by lecturing everyone else publicly, but there is no real action. And any number of miscarriages of justice are conveniently side-stepped once one has "done one's duty" by making a speech.
 

Ambarsaria

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spnadmin ji it goes without saying that I am against all murders and these are most heinous type with little on the side of people being murdered.

I personally get disgusted with press characterizations and flowery language used such as,

  • Honor killings
  • Ethnic cleansing
  • etc.
All these are demeaning and are other names for murdering of innocents.

Let us keep each other posted as to when the first head of a mob who is involved in so called "honor killings" is arrested and sent to jail for life in India! I suspect it will be long time coming in India perhaps not in my life time.

We had a case here in Canada where the father was sent to prison for life. I very much detested when the word "honor killing" was used for this murder by the print and electronic media.

You say,

... courts to do something about it, if only to speak out in the most unambiguous ways.

The question is not the courts but what happens between the sentence (or no sentence) and the incident. There are already capital punishment laws around the world. I am not sure about "Sharia Law" myself but I believe most British based Law systems have it.

So what has stopped the prosecutions in the past. Let us guess,


  • Lack of witnesses
  • Lack of backbone in families where it happens to speak against own if needed
  • Corruption and money talks
  • Lack of Police focus as they are too busy making money
    • Crime is a money printing institution in India except for the poor who end up disproportionately penalized and in jail
To cover all of the above if a court speaks, I find it absolutely shameful and simple grandstanding. They are acting like politicians. This is India!

West treats murders as murders I hope the people don't start treating or start getting used to fancy names like "honor killing".

Unfortunately it is a very disturbing and hopeless topic and specially in a country like India where large percentage of people don't have basic healthcare or can afford care and millions die who otherwise will survive. So ten people hung from the gallows, what difference does it make! I don't even see one deserving of punishment, getting to the gallows in a year or many years to come.

My sincere wish is that I am totally wrong in all of the above!

Sat Sri Akal.
 
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