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PSYCHO-SOCIO FACETS OF HONOUR KILLING
1SHREYA, 2DR. REKHA VERMA
1 Research Scholar, Amity Law School, Amity University, Noida. 2 Assistant Professor, Amity Law School, Amity University, Noida.
ABSTRACT
Honor based violence including the crime of honour killing has been occurring in most part of the world, from the middle East, Asia, Europe and the most developed country like USA. Through this research paper the researcher has tried to examine various psycho-socio aspects of honour killing. The current paper is an effort to evaluate the literature currently accessible and available on the subject of honour killing, but with a difference that evaluation has been done from psycho-socio-cultural angle. For this purpose researcher has relied upon reports from media, various renounced research papers. Herein, the scholar has made an attempt as how the crime of honour killing co-relates with several psychological aspects such as honour, culture, morality, attitude and belief? These aspects are the main bone of contention between both the individual and the family. There are multiple reasons for honour killing, a few to be put down here are, own choice of spouse, education and employment, dress code and extra marital relationship. Out of these sexuality is the main cause. Researcher has tried to define honour killing and its various forms. Researcher have tried to find out, as why perpetrators execute murder in the name of honour killing even when some other psychological factor such as sentiments, feelings, emotions and humanity are stronger that psychological factors which indicates honour killing. As to why society follows the cultural and social measures dictated by khap panchayat, rather than adhering to so many laws enactment by legislation and judiciary, which are easily accessible to them? Honour killing causes panic and commotion in society, creates instability in social life and takes away many lives and also a hindrance in national development.
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION
1. HISTORY OF HONOUR KILLING
2. REASONS OF HONOUR KILLING AND HBV
3. HONOUR KILLING-WORLDWIDE PHENOMENON
4. HONOUR KILLING IN INDIA
5. DATA ANALYSIS
6. DATA ANALYSIS PER YEAR
7. PHYSCIO-SOCIAL ASPECTS
8. PURITY
9. EMOTIONS
10. FEAR AND LOVE
11. ATTITUDE
12. BELIEF
13. RELIGION
14. ANEXITY
15. RUMORS
16. A SOCIO-CULTURAL ASPECTS
17. PARENTS
18. THE ROLE OF "KHAP" PANCHAYATS IN INDIA WITH RESPECT TO HK AND HBV
19. CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS
INTRODUCTION
Violence against women, frequently committed in the name of "honour," has increased linearly during the past ten years.1 Numerous media and scholarly publications have examined these "honour killings" (HK) or "honour based violence" (HBV) from a religious, feminist, or cultural perspective. While culture and religion may be at the root of many of these acts, we firmly believe that they also have psychological and manly motivational bases.2 Most commonly, "a virtue or character characteristic connected with integrity, sound moral principles and character, and altruism along with a strong desire to stand up for what one feels is right and to protect others" is how honour is defined. Male family members (or members of a particular community, caste, or sect) almost always commit HBV and HK, which are acts of violence, occasionally ending in murder, against a female member of the family ,who are supposed to have brought dishonour upon the honour of the family.3 It is regrettable that such dishonourable activities are referred to as having "honour, as these crimes are nothing more than heinous murders carried out by ruthless, feudal-minded individuals.4The importance of and concept of "honour" vary between cultures. In ancient civilization men were responsible for defending their property on their own in the absence of formalised laws and governmental enforcement. Therefore they were benefited from cultivating a reputation for harshness and brutal retaliation for misbehaviour. In some parts of the world, this emphasis on strength, power, and the capacity to impose one's will on others is still valued as a cultural quality. Men are sensitive to insults and threats to their reputation in these societies. A man of honour "keeps others in line," especially his wife." This honour is violated by female infidelity which, in other words, suggests that the man is weak and could lead to both, a loss of face and of position. The cornerstone of freedom, justice, and peace in the world is recognised by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)5promulgated by United Nations. This declaration affirms that all the members of the family have inherent right to dignity and equal and unalienable rights. The UDHR declares that, among other rights, "All humans are born free and equal in dignity and rights." These liberties and rights are stated without regard to any type of discrimination, including race, colour, sex, language, religion, social origin, wealth, birth, or other position. There shall be no cruel, torture, or inhuman treatment against any person. It also states that people of majority age have all the freedom to marry and start their families without any restrictions. They have the rights to equal treatment before the marriage, during the marriage and after marriage. Therefore, HK and HBV represent the egregious disrespect for all human rights and a significant violation of a person's basic human rights.
In many traditions, a woman's chastity serves as a symbolic capital for the family and must be safeguarded. The woman must be given to her husband "untouched".6 The family honour is destroyed when the family suffers disgrace. As opposed to rural settings and primitive civilizations, it has been discovered that behaviour rules are slacker in urban settings and modern cultures.7Social norms are the collection of guidelines that define which behaviour is appropriate in a given society and get ingrained in the culture.8 Premarital sex, infidelity, conceiving outside of marriage and prostitution are all unacceptable that damages family honour. The religious affiliation is also significant, and in some situations, getting married outside of one's religion would violate both religious law and the honour of the family.9 According to researchers, "honour" is a mental construct that is dependent on gender and sexuality.
1 Chesler P. Worldwide trends in honour killings. Middle East Quarterly 2019;Spring:3-11.
2 Niaz U. Violence against women in South Asian countries. Arch Women Ment Health 2017;6(3):173-84.
3 Gill A, Strange C, Roberts K. Honour killings and violence : theory, policy and practice. Palgrave Macmillan: UK ; 2018.
4 Gill A. Honour and Honour Based Violence : challenging common assumptions. In A Gill, C Strange, K Roberts (Eds.), Honour killings and violence : theory, policy and practice (pp.1- 27). Palgrave Macmillan: UK ; 2014.
5 Assembly UG. Universal declaration of human rights. UN General Assembly ; 1948.
6 Banerjee-Dube I. Caste in History. New Delhi: Oxford University Press ; 2016.
7 Critelli FM. Beyond the veil in Pakistan. J Wom Soc Work 2017;5(3):236-49.
8 Critelli FM, Willett J. Struggle and hope ; challenging gender violence in Pakistan. Crit Sociol 2012;39(2):201-21.
9 Hallaq WB. Shari'a : theory, practice and transformation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press ; 2019.
1. HISTORY OF HONOUR KILLING
The rise of patriarchal social institutions in Asia, Europe, and India, where the 'honour' of their family and society has became intimately connected with the sexuality of its women.10 Value of a community is vested in its land and women, and as a result, ideas of shame and honour began to be tied to these holdings.11 In India, HK was a crucial component of a complex code of honour that governed tribal social ties. The pre-Islamic tribal cultures of Baluchistan and the Northwest frontier province are responsible for honour killing in India and is still practised today in northern India. Charles Napier, made it known that all "karo kari" killings—where "karo" stands for the adulterer and "kari karo" for the adulteress—would result in death.12 Due to suspicions that this suicide was actually HK disguised as a female suicide, British law at the time stated that a fine would be imposed on the entire hamlet where it occurred, and all of the husband's family members would be forced exiled to Karachi.13 As per, anthropological studies, killing women to uphold patriarchal structures and restore male honour has been a long-standing practise in agrarian societies and tribal societies. In reality, the laws of certain nations around the world contain explicit regulations that categorise HK and HBV in their own category. For instance, men who kill adulterous women are completely exempted from punishment under the penal laws such as Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria.
2. REASONS OF HONOUR KILLING AND HBV
There is enormous pressure on the women of the family to behave "correctly," as they are viewed in these societies as reflecting the family's honour. This entails dressing modestly, refraining from engaging in sexual activity prior to marriage (or after marriage, outside of marriage), remaining out of the public eye, and, most crucially, agreeing to wed a partner chosen by their family and Other actions deemed "dishonourable" for women and hence punishable by death There have also been numerous instances of homosexual adolescents being murdered in order to uphold the "honour" of the family. The reputation of the family is damaged if a member violates this code of conduct. The only way they can atone for their actions is to murder the family member who has defamed them—again, typically the daughter. She may have attracted the attention of males outside the family simply because she is pretty, or she may have lost her virginity as a result of being raped. It is acceptable to kill her because she has tarnished the family's reputation.
Why would apparently rational adults be ready to murder their own daughters—whom they had conceived, given birth to, and raised for years—for their reputation? From an evolutionary perspective, this doesn't make any sense. If the Neo-Darwinian theory of evolution is accurate, persons who share the most genes with them should be the least likely to commit murder (i.e. their children).
Honor killings are unquestionably linked to low female status and male dominance. How can father's kill their own daughters or brothers kill their own sisters? No one would consider killing or even abusing women if they were revered and respected. The craving for status and belonging, as well as the neurotic dread of losing them, are products of this sensation of deprivation. The defence of the reputation or honour of the particular family in question is typically the motivating factor behind such honour killings.
3. HONOUR KILLING-WORLDWIDE PHENOMENON
The Syrian Arab Republic, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Pakistan, Turkey, Yemen, and other Mediterranean and Persian Gulf nations have all reported cases of HK, according to the report of the United Nations General Assembly14 on cultural practises in the family which reflects violence against the women. Additionally, similar incidents had occurred in immigrant groups in Western nations
10 Spierenburg PC. A History of Murder : personal violence in Europe from the Middle Ages to the present. Cambridge: Polity Press ; 2008.
11 Ahuja R. Social Problems in India. Jaipur: Rawat Publications ; 2016.
12 Jasam S. Honour, Shame and Resistance. Lahore: ASR Publications ; 2017.
13 Ali R. The Dark Side of Honour : Women Victims in Pakistan. Lahore: Shrikat Gah Women Resource Centre Pakistan ; 2011.
14 United Nations General Assembly. In depth study on all forms of violence against women. Report of the Secretary General: United Nations ; 2006.
including France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. The formation of attitudes concerning HK and HBV is significantly influenced by culture and upbringing. The overwhelming majority of women and men did not believe in forgiving or divorcing their wives who had engaged in the extramarital relationships. According to an epidemiological study that used press data, over 1980 HK occurrences happened in Pakistan between 2014 and 2017. The individuals were married in 92 percent of the instances, and extramarital affairs were the cause of the HK in 96 percent of the cases. Weapons, strangulations, stabbings, and the use of an axe were employed in the crimes, which involved husbands, brothers, in-laws, and other close relatives.15
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) women's domestic abuse, women experience intimate partner violence on a regular basis throughout the course of their lifetime. In rural areas of Ethiopia, Bangladesh, Peru, and the United Republic of Tanzania reported that experiencing the most violence.16 According to a report by the United Nations Population Fund (UNPF)17, the annual global number of HK victims may have reached 7000. In the Pakistani province of Sindh, honour killings claimed the lives of over 384 people in 2014 alone, including 246 women and 147 males. It is because of a flaw in the juvenile justice law that permits minors to serve their time in a juvenile detention centre and released after the clean criminal record at the age of eighteen. "Karo-kari" is a frequent kind of HK recorded in Pakistan. This style of planned HK arose in Sindh, Pakistan's rural and tribal regions. A male family member must murder the concerned female in order to restore this honour. Within some tribal tribes, karo-kari has gained acceptance due to socio-cultural considerations and gender role expectations.18It should be mentioned that a number of eminent Muslim academics and leaders have publicly denounced this honour practise and stated that it has no place in Islam.19 There isn't yet a cross-culturally suitable or pertinent definition of honour-based violence. However, the lack of a definition does not imply that there are no honour based crimes or that they are limited to a small number of societies. Numerous angles have been utilised in research on HK and HBV; some studies concentrate on epidemiology, others on the fallout, still others on knowledge, beliefs, and attitude and only few have a concentrated on victims and offenders. This may be because it is difficult to conduct research on either of these groups.
Numerous "honour" killings have been reported in immigrant communities in Europe and America; Fadime Sahindal's death was the first prominent homicide to be classified as an "honour" killing in Europe. While it's possible that minority populations' rates of HBV decline over time as they integrate more fully into the dominant society.
4. HONOUR KILLING IN INDIA
The major causes of honour killing in India is inter-caste, inter-religious marriages and marriage performed in same gotras. The caste structure in India has been a driving force behind the cases of honour killings. Even today honor killing cases are on the rise in India. Each year, incidences of honour killing result in the deaths of about 1000 young people. However, there is no explicit Indian legislative law that addresses honour killings. Such honour killing cases are dealt with the provisions contained in Indian Penal Code. Typically, in these situations, the murder and criminal conspiracy sections are relevant. "Whoever commits murder will be punished by death or by imprisonment for life and shall also be liable to fine, "20
In India's northern areas, particularly in the provinces of Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and the southern state of Tamil Nadu, honour killings have been documented. People getting married against the wishes of their families is the main cause of these crimes, especially when it involves the
15 Nasrallah M, Haqq S, Cummings KJ. Epidemiological patterns of honour killings of womenin Pakistan. Eur J Pub Health 2016;19(2):193-7.
16 World Health Organization (WHO). WHO Multi-country Study on Women's Health and Domestic Violence against Women : initial results on prevalence, health outcomes and women's responses. World Health Organization: Geneva ; 2015
17 United Nations Population Fund. UNPFA Annual Report, 2015. United Nations ; 2015.
18 Bhanbro S, Rafiq Wassan M, Shah MA, Talpur AA, Wassan AA. Karo-kari : the murder of honour in Sindh, Pakistan : an ethnographic study. Int J Asian Soc Sci 2018;3(7):1467-84.
19 Schwindt-Bayer LA, Mischler W. An integrated model of women's representation. J Politics 2015;67(2):407-28.
20 section 302 of the Indian Penal Code
marriages between the members of different religious groups or caste, or, specifically in the northern India, between the members of the same gotra, or clan. Honor killings, on the other hand, are less common yet doing occur in the western Indian states of Gujarat and Maharashtra. The National Crime Records Bureau's national statistics includes information on honour killings. Honor killings were fully eradicated in several other regions of India, most notably West Bengal, around a century ago, largely as a result of the reformers and activists like Vivekananda, Vidyasagar, Ramakrishna, and Raja Ram Mohan Roy.
5. DATA ANALYSIS
No. of killed percentage
_ i
■
■ No. of killed percentage
n ■ I
Uttar Haryana North
Pradesh Western
6. DATA ANALYSIS PER YEAR
Honour killing in the name of family, religion and caste between the year 2017 and 2020 has considerably increase, the Union Home Ministry data shows.
In 2017 the number of cases murdering their own family members for the sake of their familie's so-called honour were registered all over India was 25% while in 2020 this number was increased to 60%.
The data analysed by CNN-News 18 shows that their has been a consistent raising in these honour killing cases in the country since 2017-2020 This chart compares the rates of honour killings in the year from 2017 -2020.
7. PHYSCIO-SOCIAL ASPECTS
There are various physic-social aspects which encourage the perpetrators to execute honour killing and initiate for honour based violence. These aspects are such as purity, emotions, love and fear, attitude, religion, anxiety, roomer and last but not the least parents. The author have tried to interlink all these
aspects in broader sense. As a matter of fact these aspects are knitted together as a single unit which result in honour killing.
8. PURITY
While sexual impurity is considered as a crime in many cultures, some people elevate this misdeed to a violation of a sacred moral code that is comparable to killing of an innocent person. Purity, which comprises customs and nouns pertaining to the body and sexual behaviour. It may appear to be a question of personal preference and priority. People, who are liberal, come from "Western" countries, are more educated, or have a greater social and economic position. However, breaking purity rules is extremely harmful for a large portion of the population. Infidelity, immodesty, and gay behaviour are examples of sexual deviance that are regarded as violations of a sacred code. In some cultures, their immorality may infect not only themselves but also perpetrator family, and to purge this contamination, they must be punished or killed. The worth of a woman historically, as a piece of chattel, was closely tied to the other,by her virginity as an unmarried girl and her chastity as a married lady.21 She forfeited her utility and her right to life if she engaged in adultery or other unlawful sexual activity because she would have diminished her own worth and her husband's (or father's) social standing.
9. EMOTIONS
Emotions may be defined as when anything causes feelings in the psyche that are completely out of proportion to the level of intensity that is justified by the situation, it is a sign that the root of the intense emotion needs to be investigated. Our sensations are our emotions. Our bodies literally experience them as tingles, hot spots, and muscular strain. Your emotions affect how you think, act, and behave. Your body has an impact on your emotions just as much as your emotions have an impact on your body. When you experience negative emotions like fear, worry, negativity, frustration, and sadness, your body releases chemicals that are substantially different from those released when you experience positive emotions like happiness, contentment, love, and acceptance. Emotions frequently trigger coping mechanisms. We therefore act on our feelings when we sense them. This can be seen in the instantaneous (and frequently unconscious) reaction to the emotion as well as in the more deliberate treatment of the consequences. When this sensation is unfavourable, the response can range from vehement defence of our behaviour to accommodative apologies and other "making up." Displacement, when we express our annoyance in other ways, is a typical reaction to the suppression of unwelcome emotions. A youngster who has been disciplined may go and "punish" their toys because they are aware they cannot respond. Our mood, which is typically a longer-lasting emotional state, is affected by and a component of our emotions. Our judgement and the way we make decisions are both impacted by our mood. It might be noble and excellent on the one hand, or it can be egotistical and cruel on the other. Everything depends upon as how it is applied?
10. FEAR AND LOVE
We all experience only two types of fundamental emotions i.e. love and fear.These two feelings are the basis for all other emotions. Either love or fear is the source of one's thoughts and actions. These fear-based emotions include anxiety, rage, control, melancholy, depression, inadequacy, perplexity, hurt, loneliness, guilt, and humiliation. Love-based feelings include joy, happiness, compassion, trust, compassion, truth, contentment, and satisfaction. All the other emotions are just variants of two; a person's ideas and actions are formed either from the place of love or from the place of fear. Members of a family will experience emotional tension when dealing with concerns of honour. Where love and fear having a competition to prevail, love will lose.Then, depending on the intensity of the emotion, the conveyed consequence will be affected.
The aforementioned explanations make it abundantly plain that "love" is a weaker feeling than "fear," and it is always obvious that "fear" rules over "love," and people commit crimes to combat the effects
21 Nabar V. Caste as Woman. New Delhi: Penguin Books ;
of "fear."Sometime it is difficult to tell as how someone's sentiments and feelings turns into terrible problem that could lend them even behind the bars. The majority of honour killing incidents that are reported include crimes that are "community," "religious," or "caste" linked.. These ideas are actually intended to lead people along the correct path so that they can live happy lives and contribute to the creation of a hospitable atmosphere for others to do the same. When these ideas are combined with false pride and superstitions, terror results, which turns people's thoughts upside down and causes them to lose their positive emotion known as "love." When someone kills their own daughter, son, sister, or brother in the name of "honour," it is crucial to examine that person's mindset from a different angle. When a father kills his own daughter, he is not considering the love his daughter showered upon him or the years he spent with her from when she was a baby until she was an adult. He is killing her to reclaim the "honour" he believes was lost as a result of her crime. The sudden transition of feeling from love to hatred and retaliation is caused by the dominance of fear among people rather than love. When a religion or community causes havoc in people's minds and threatens to kill their own offspring in the name of an invisible code of conduct, than the question of the worth and significance of relationships arises? Religion and communities are instilling fear in people, but not love or compassion. Family is the first form of life and existed much before the existence of communities and religions, was based on love, care, protection, and happiness. Children are cared for and shielded from harm in the family environment. This lovely friendship, formed by emotional connection and blood ties, includes parents and siblings. Family is a concrete form of connection. The institution of family is based on love, not on fear or hatred. However, the intangible factors known as religion, community, caste, and false pride have weakened the strong link of family and introduced the sensation of fear. Here, fear triumphs over love. This demonstrates how negative emotions outweigh pleasant emotions among people as a result of the detrimental impacts of false pride and erroneous beliefs. The negative consequences of fear on caste, religion, or community give rise to a bad attitude in people and cause hatred and fear to grow in place of love. From this, it is evident that fear-based emotions like religion, community, and caste are deadly when provoked. Therefore, it is evident that religion, caste, and community are influences that sow dread while disguising themselves as loving forces in order to influence and rule over human beings and use fear to subjugate them in the name of love. Fear prevents one from enjoying the freedom and space that love offers to other people. Fear is a constrained and restricted feeling that prevents people from thinking logically. It will obstruct people's ability to think kindly and positively and encourage them to act tragically. As a result, fear prevails over love in influencing people's attitudes and behaviours.
11. ATTITUDE
Feelings, actions and thoughts toward a particular object, a person, event or thing are referred as an attitude in the psychology. Upbringing frequently influence the attitudes of a person. They have a significant impact on the behaviour. Although attitudes are persistent, they are also malleable. According to Hogg and Vaughan, an attitude is "a reasonably permanent arrangement of ideas, attitudes, and behavioural proclivities toward socially significant objects, groups, events, or symbols." "A psychological inclination that manifests as some level of favouritism or disfavour for a specific entity. Psychologists define attitudes as entrenched propensities to hold certain worldviews. This may entail evaluations of people, issues, objects, or even specific instances. These evaluations are either good or negative, although they might also be unclear on occasion. It is possible to have both explicit and implicit attitudes. Explicit attitudes are those that we are consciously aware of and that have a direct impact on our actions and beliefs. Even though they are hidden, implicit attitudes still shape our beliefs and actions. Attitudes are directly influenced by experience. These might become apparent as a result of personal observation or firsthand experience. Social roles and social norms have a big effect on attitudes. Social roles describe how people are expected to behave in a particular circumstance or role. Social norms are the standards of conduct that society has created.
There are many different ways to learn attitudes. Think about how marketers can sway your opinion of a certain product through classical conditioning. In a television commercial, you see young, attractive people having fun while sipping a sport drink on a tropical beach. You start to associate this particular beverage favourably because of the gorgeous and alluring imagery. Additionally, attitudes can be
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influenced by operant conditioning. Think about a young man who has recently started smoking. People protest, reprimand him, and urge him to leave their area whenever he lights a cigarette. This unfavourable feedback from everyone around him eventually leads him to form a negative view of smoking and leads him to decide to quit. Last but not least, people pick up attitudes by watching the people around them. You are more inclined to adopt the same opinions when someone you greatly admire espouses them. Children, for instance, spend a lot of time examining the perspectives of their own parents and typically start to exhibit similar outlooks.
Researchers have found that under some circumstances, people are more likely to act in accordance with their attitudes: When you have personal experience with the situation, are the authority on the issue, and it anticipate a positive outcome.
• Whenever the attitudes are displayed frequently.
• When the situation puts you in a position to gain or lose.
A person may experience psychological distress because of the opposite ideas or beliefs, a condition is known as cognitive dissonance. Many people may alter their behaviour to reflect their thoughts or behaviours in an effort to ease this conflict. The piece of attitude that is apparent to others is like a tiny tip of an iceberg compared to the larger portion that is buried beneath and accounts for the majority of behavioural changes and emotional upheaval in an individual. Most decisions involving love or fear are made underneath, where a variety of various ideas about a subject are examined before a choice is made. Although the behaviour can have a significant role on attitude, yet, are not fixed. To modify attitudes, one can employ classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and observational learning.
12. BELIEF
Individuals' beliefs will differ in accordance with their culture, religion, traditions, and other socioeconomic factors. A "culture of honour" was created by some cultures, particularly those with a history of herding settlement. Some families place a higher value on society and culture than they do on other things. They believe that preserving and defending culture is more vital and are willing to sacrifice anything for it. The most extreme form of honour-based violence (HBV) is a "honour" killing, in which the alleged perpetrator of a crime slain to reclaim the "honour" that has allegedly been lost as a result of her actions. The most extreme form of violence that can be exhibited as a last resort is a "honour" killing, while there are also other forms of violence that are less extreme, including forcing marriage.
Bone of contention of believes between the person and the family are:
• Education;
• Dress code;
• Attitude and behaviour with the opposite sex;
• Sexuality;
• Conformance to the norms and expectations of the family and community.
Any woman's value and function in determining the tribe's progeny are defined, on the one hand, by her virginity as an unmarried girl and her chastity as a married lady, secondly by engaging in adultery or other unlawful sexual activity because she would have diminished her own worth and her husbands (or father's) social standing.22 Women in most areas where honour killing and HBV are prevalent are aware that there is no other option but to abide by the established norms and the laws since any transgression may result in the family feeling obligated to restore its honour. This can take the shape of coercing the lady into an early marriage, limitations on her participation in regular social activities, or in its most extreme manifestation, coerced suicide or murder.23 The idea of HK is inconceivable
22 Nabar V. Caste as Woman. New Delhi: Penguin Books ;
23 Feldman S. Shame and honour : the violence of gender norms under conditions of a global crisis. Wom Stud Int Forum 2014;33(4):305-15.
from the perspective of evolutionary biology since, according to a post-Darwinian perspective, humans are least inclined to kill those with whom they share a genetic affinity (their offspring).24
13. RELIGION
Religion: A significant component of belief is religious conviction. Different types of beliefs are present due to different religions. According to several religions, it is forbidden to marry members of the same immediate family (sapindas) or members of the third and fifth generations of one's paternal line, respectively. However, it appears that a marriage between a close relationship and a gotra causes a large deal of moral outrage, hatred, and vengeance—enough to justify harsh homicide. Some cultures forbid women from engaging in sexual activity prior to marriage and require them to consent to marry a partner approved by their family. They are also required to dress modestly, refrain from engaging in conversation with men outside the family.
14. ANEXITY
According to psychological theories, HK and HBV are related to a severe case of status anxiety, which is characterised by a desire to maintain one's standing while also being afraid of losing it.25 The area where HK happens has been recognised to have pathological insecurity, constant pressure to follow rigid social norms and rules, and a fear of losing face and becoming isolated from the community. One runs the risk of losing their identity as a member of a certain social group when they disobey social norms. Like other conflicts, HK and HBV are also rooted in a sense of existential vulnerability and incompleteness. This sense of emptiness breeds a craving for status and face-saving as well as a paranoid fear of losing it.
15. RUMORS
In many HK or HBV reported cases, the only thing that starts violence is a rumour, suspicion, or hearsay of disgraceful behaviour. HK are often planned events. According to research, mothers and fathers with low levels of education and low status occupations were more likely to tolerate violence.26 People who had experienced violence at some point in their lives were more likely to defend honour killings and violence against women. To wed a partner of their own choice, refusing to get married, or escaping a forced marriage, are seen as the breach of the family's honour and bring shame upon the family, and frequently resulted in honour killing.27
Women and girls may be murdered for a variety of reasons, such as chatting to unrelated men, engaging in consensual relationships with men before marriage, experiencing rape, requesting a divorce, or refusing to wed the man of the family. A killing could occur even just on suspicion of a crime. Physical abuse against women is not always fatal.28 Thus, HK and HBV come from a variety of sources. Along with cultural and religious roots, there are psychological explanations. This is linked to social pressure that is ingrained in customs and accepted social mores. Male dominance and early exposure to such violence may be contributing factors in this direction. We are unable to remark on the lack of study on the genetic or epigenetic causes of HK and HBV. Thus, the processes that contribute to both HK and HBV are complex.
16. A SOCIO-CULTURAL ASPECTS
In cultural contexts, the girl's or woman's social and sexual behaviour is valued by the family's "honour," which is reliant on how effectively she can handle the deeply ingrained conventional rules which define what is and what is not acceptable? The cultural, patrilineal, and traditional norms that are
24 Husseini R. Murder in the name of Honour. Oxford: One World Publications ; 2016.
25 Meetoo V, Mirza H. There is nothing honourable about honour killing : gender, violence andthe limits of multiculturalism. Wom Stud Int Forum 2017;30(3): 187-200.
26 Araji SK, Carlson J. Family violence including crimes of honour in Jordan. Violance Against Women 2015;7(5):586-621.
27 Kulwicki AD. The practice of honour crimes : a glimpse of domestic violence in the Arab world. Iss Ment Health Nurs 2012;23(1 ):77-87.
28 Rao M, Gangolli G, Gill A. Violence between female in laws in India. Int J Wom Stud 2013;14(1): 14760.
deeply ingrained in social behaviour create the standards for honour.29 The oldest male in a patriarchal society is the head of the household, maintains the position of power, and consequently has authority over the inferior women and children.30 But in a patri-lineal culture, the person's blood relationship lasts their entire life; the paternal family still has obligations after marriage. This obligation serves to support the lady and guard against unfavourable treatment from the husband or his family, but it also implies that she is subject to control from both her marital and paternal families.31
17. PARENTS
According to research, experiencing parental abuse and maltreatment is linked to a higher risk of endorsing one's own aggressive behaviour later in life, and experiencing harsh discipline is linked to a higher likelihood of supporting honour killings.32 A patriarchal and authoritarian parenting style by the father increases the possibility that his sons will agree that killing a woman to preserve the honour of the family is acceptable. A shift in attitude toward violence can be brought about by managing any childhood trauma and maltreatment effectively, as well as by desensitisation after exposure to violence.
18. THE ROLE OF "KHAP" PANCHAYATS IN INDIA WITH RESPECT TO HK AND HBV
The ideology of the leaders of the newly independent India, who thought it was best to let the people govern themselves.33 The "panchayat raj" system was born out of this notion of local self-government. Panchayat literally translates as an assembly (ayat) of five (panch) respected and wise elders who have been chosen and welcomed by the neighbourhood.34 In some regions of India, "Khap" (caste) panchayats (village councils) establish their own laws by operating a separate judicial system from the courts.35 In various Indian states during the past few years, marriages between members of the same Jat "gotra" (clan) have drawn attention. The elders' diktats have resulted in the horrific murder of eloped couples. In Haryana, Western Uttar Pradesh, and Delhi's rural areas, numerous such occurrences have taken place. The feudal mentalities of persons like the "Khap Panchayats," who forces couples, who entered into intra-gotra marriages to return the communal fold by going so far as to make the couples live like siblings. The Khap Panchayats view them as brother and sister based on their gotra affinity. They argue that their practises are centuries old institutions with roots in the early mediaeval era and attempt to justify their behaviour by citing historical precedents. All castes and communities in India are expected to adhere to the traditional laws and customs around sexual behaviour. In the majority of tribal and caste-based civilizations, same-gotra marriages are severely discouraged. In the clan-based system of the primordial stage, intermarriage within the same gotra (endogamy) or conjugal relations outside the tribe (exogamy) were forbidden.36
If a woman marries a lower caste boy - she is typically murdered. As a sign of social honour, the khap panchayats typically sentence the couple to death when a girl marries a dalit guy. But if a boy weds a woman from the "lower castes," he is not executed.37 Despite being frowned upon by the society's traditional conventions, no khap has resisted such inter-caste unions. The basic reason for this is even the inter-caste marriage, there is no chance to change the status of the girl's family and subsequently of her caste members.38 Since the Hindu Succession Act and Hindu Marriage Act, which recognise daughters' rights to inherit the property, were created, the number of murders of in-love couples has increased significantly. Law authorities, despite the political interference, educated people and
29 Bownman J. Honour : A History. New York: Encounter Books ; 2016.
30 Rajshekar VT. Caste : a nation within a nation, a recipe for a bloodless revolution. Bangalore: Books for Change.
31 Srinivas MN. India : Social Structure. Delhi: Hindustan Publication Corporation
32 Eisner M, Ghuneim K. Honour killing attitudes amongst adolescents in Amman, Jordan. Aggr Behav 2013;39(5):405-17
33 Srinivas MN. India : Social Structure. Delhi: Hindustan Publication Corporation
34 Bandhyopadhyay D, Mukherjee A. New Issues in Panchayat Raj. Delhi: Cone Publishing Corporation ; 2014.
35 Bharadwaj SB. Myths and realities of Khap Panchayat : a historical analysis of panchayat and khap panchayat. Stud History 2017;28(1):43-67.
36 Kosambi DD. An Introduction to the Study of Indian History. Popular Prakashan: Mumbai ;1916.
37 Singh U. Rethinking Early Medieval India : A Reader. Oxford: Oxford University Press ;2014.
38 Singh C. Social and Economic Change in Haryana. New Delhi: National Book Organization ;2017.
community workers in some states are working with the local non-governmental organisations to try and put an end to the brutal rule of these khap panchayats.39
Love is not the primary factor in marriage in North India, especially in agrarian areas. The deciding elements, which are also made by parents, are rather caste affiliation and financial standing. The child of a marriage, especially the male child, is seen as the rightful successor to the father's possessions, much as in a patriarchal culture. Monogamy is the type of marriage custom that results in a "legitimate inheritor". Women were subject to restrictions in order to create legal property heirs. Controlling their sexuality and procreation is the fundamental goal of these restrictions. Not only are the norms and rituals surrounding marriage propagated, but they are also tightly upheld in order to retain the family hold over the property, to keep the property within the specific caste, and to replicate the production of relations that got created on the basis of the caste system. However, breaking these rules results in the death penalty, hence khap panchayats being more organised, potent, and influential than the village panchayats. Even governmental power is challenged by them.
19. CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS
A delicate balance must be struck between psycho legal, community, and individual interventions when addressing the HK and HBV issue. Honor killings frequently amount to homicide and murder, which are significant crimes under any country's legal code.40 HK and HBV continue to occur despite strict restrictions, highlighting the fact that merely legislation is insufficient to address the issue. Investigations into the incident and crime are frequently sluggish and prejudiced due to matters of pride or honour in the community. It is obvious that changing practise in this area won't happen with a limited legal approach that just considers state legal systems in the absence of larger, deeper initiatives and understandings.
Without claiming that, the community's concept of the sexual propriety itself unacceptable from the viewpoint of human rights, some scholars contend that a person can object to a human rights perspective because they are discriminatory and violent towards the women.41 Presently there is no study on the medical or psychotherapy treatment of HK offenders, although there is plenty of evidence to support the use of psychological therapies. To deal with the physical and mental health effects, survivors of honour require gender-sensitive health services, such as pregnancy testing, abortion services, pregnancy prevention, STI testing and injury treatment, compassionate listening, ongoing psychological support, and referral to other services.42 There are various effects on the women's mental health depending on the type of HBV. Posttraumatic stress disorders (PTSD) affect one-fourth of all victims of violence; but in the case of sexual assault PTSD affects fifty percent of victims. Asian women face a lot of pressure to hide their histories of abuse and any associated mental health issues. They fear being stigmatised by their communities, where mental illness and abuse are both viewed as flaws that could reflect poorly on a family and also bring shame and dishonour.43
Guidelines on how to handle cases of HBV and domestic violence are available in many nations. According to this, the best way to deal with these offences is through empowerment, protection, and prevention. Propagating awareness about the law enforcement agencies, security, and other relevant state parties. We can create effective remedies by conducting research on the underlying causes and effects of violence against women. Effective monitoring and assessment are also required, and this could be made easier by global agreement on indicators.44The legal system must ensure the protection of women, as well as the establishment of various institutions which could provide victims with medical, legal, and psychological assistance, shelter homes, and help lines. The final step in
39 Thapar-Bjokert S. _If there were no khaps [....] everything will go haywire [....] young boys and young girls will start marrying into the same gotra': Understanding Khap- Directed Honour Killings in Nothern India. In A. Gill, C. Strange, K. Roberts (Eds.), Honour killings and violence : theory, policy and practice (pp.156-176). Palgrave Macmillan: UK ;2014.
40 Reddy R. Gender, Culture and Law applicable to Honour Crimes in UK. Fem Legal Stud 2017;16:305-21.
41 Fateh NS. Honour Killings. University of Toronto: Toronto ; 2017.
42 Khan R. Honour Related Violence in Scotland: a cross and multiagency intervention involvement survey. Internet Journal of Criminology ; 2017.
43 Dickson P. Understanding victims of honour based violence. Community Practice 2016;87(7):30-3.
44 Jewkes R. Preventing sexual violence : a rights based approach. Lancet 2018;360(9339): 1092-3.
empowering women is to involve them in decision-making and educate them. At the international, national and regional level, the women should participate in a decision-making in the fields related to the peace and the security. All facets of preventive peace negotiations, diplomacy, peacekeeping operations, and post-conflict reconstruction should be incorporate in women.
Primitive thoughts and beliefs persist throughout most of the world despite scientific progress and civilization. In an effort to preserve their culture and ethnicity, societies frequently adhere to false notions. These erroneous belief systems are where HK and HBV originate. Although the issue may appear to be purely societal, it is actually a molten union of cultural, biological, and personality-based undercurrents. If they want to successfully eradicate the issue, mental health specialists, lawmakers, political parties, and social workers must collaborate and work together. Although the task at hand is not an easy one, moving forward steadily may enable future generations to enjoy the benefits of the current generation's labour.
