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Chandigarh: Like the
horrific honour killings in neighbouring Haryana, Punjab, one of
the country's most affluent states, has in the last few months
witnessed a surge in the murders of young boys and girls in the
name of upholding family honour.
Five youngsters have been brutally killed for the sake of "honour"
by their own family members and relatives in different parts of
the state in the last one and a half months alone. Despite strict
guidelines by the Punjab and Haryana High Court to curb incidents
of honour killing, the state government and police have been
unable to find any effective solution to the problem.
The high court recently ordered both the states to provide shelter
homes to runaway couples who marry against the wishes of their
families, caste or community and asked police to provide them
security.
In one of the latest cases, a Dalit man, who had tried to elope
with a girl from the land-owning Jat community, was allegedly
kidnapped and murdered by his girlfriend's family members in
Punjab's Ludhiana district July 4.
Many are calling for urgent measures.
"We need dedicated courts to deal with honour killings in Punjab.
Till there is a fear of punishment in the minds of people, we
cannot stop them from indulging in this unlawful practice. Courts
should make sure that a decision is taken in a maximum of 180
days," Avtar Singh Mullapuri, senior vice president of NGO Lok
Bhalai Party, told IANS.
"The government is also adopting a soft approach towards the
culprits of honour killings. They do not want to offend people. So
far we have not seen even a single case where an exemplary
punishment was given to the culprits," said Mullapuri, whose NGO
works for Indians stranded abroad.
In another instance of the ghastly crime, a man named Pardeep was
murdered by around 10 people, including his wife's brother, in
Nawanshahar June 26. Pardeep had married Balwinder Kaur, who
belonged to a different caste, in February this year.
On May 21, a young couple was brutally killed with sharp-edged
weapons in Bhullar village of Punjab's Amritsar district by the
girl's family members. Later, the bodies were thrown at an
isolated place.
"Yes, the cases of honour killings have gone up recently. We try
to help couples when they complain. Sometimes people try to pass
off honour killing cases as plain murders," said a senior police
officer, requesting anonymity.
Parmod Sharma, who runs the NGO Yuvsatta here, told IANS: "Honour
killing is a problem of not only poor but also well-off sections.
We cannot relate it with economic status. That is why one of the
country's most prosperous states is marred by this stigma."
"During the last few decades, we have seen phenomenal development
and progress in various areas but at the same time, the problem of
honour killings has aggravated. There are very rigid communities
that decide the destiny of young boys and girls and there is no
value of human life for them," stated Sharma.
Only recently has the media become active and started reporting
such cases, Sharma said. Earlier the majority of these cases would
go unreported.
In January, a woman and her lover were killed by the former's
brother and sister-in-law in Punjab's Bathinda town.
"Unlike the West, marriage is not an individual right in India. In
Western countries, two individuals stay together, have children
and then decide whether they are compatible enough for marriage.
But here, you can't even think of that," said Manjit Singh, an
activist.
"In the rural parts of Punjab, the situation is even worse," said
a senior faculty member with the sociology department at Panjab
University here. "Here we are still living by the preferences of
caste, colour, linguistics and religion. We have to understand
that marriage is not a legal or social contract but it's purely a
contract between two individuals, without any outside
interference," he added.
Shedding some light on the reasons behind these crimes, Singh
said: "Nobody wants to kill his child but people succumb under the
tremendous pressure of peer groups, kinship or relatives.
"The government has to become more proactive, providing shelters
for runaway couples and mere protection will not serve the
purpose. There is a need to educate society."
(Jaideep Sarin can be
contacted at jaideep.s@ians.in; Alkesh Sharma can be contacted at
alkesh.s@ians.in)
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