When a family’s sense of dignity becomes more valuable than a daughter’s life, we enter the dark territory of honour crimes. In India, this brutal reality continues to claim hundreds of lives each year, particularly targeting women who dare to make their own choices about love and marriage. These aren’t isolated incidents confined to remote villages, but a widespread pattern of violence that cuts across regions, communities, and social classes.
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What drives honour crimes in India
The concept of honour, or ‘izzat,’ lies at the heart of these crimes. In many Indian communities, a family’s reputation is believed to rest on the conduct of its women, particularly their adherence to strict codes about sexuality and marriage. When a woman transgresses these social norms by choosing her own partner, marrying outside her caste or religion, or even refusing an arranged marriage, her family may view this as bringing shame that can only be erased through violence.
The United Nations Population Fund estimates that as many as 5,000 women worldwide are killed annually for reasons of honour, with a significant proportion occurring in India. According to research from the Dalit Human Rights Defenders Network, honour killings are far more prevalent across India than official statistics suggest. Many cases go unreported or are categorized under different crimes like murder or kidnapping, making it difficult to track the true scale of this violence.
The caste system plays a central role in perpetuating honour crimes. Castes are endogamous groups that maintain boundaries through controlling marriages. According to a study by Shakti Vahini examining 560 cases in Haryana, Punjab, and Western Uttar Pradesh where couples faced threats of violence, 83 percent involved inter-caste marriages. When these boundaries are crossed, especially when a woman from a dominant caste marries a Dalit man, the response can be lethal.
Who commits these crimes and how they unfold
Honour killings are rarely spontaneous acts. They are often premeditated murders carried out by family members, including fathers, brothers, uncles, and sometimes even mothers. In rural areas, khap panchayats or caste councils frequently sanction or order these crimes. These unelected bodies, comprising primarily dominant caste men, issue decrees against couples who violate community norms.
The violence takes various forms. Some victims are murdered outright, others are forced to consume poison, and still others face sustained harassment that drives them to desperation. Men who marry women from higher castes face particular brutality. Women who survive attacks often face intense pressure to disown their relationships and return to their families.
What makes these crimes especially insidious is the complicity they receive. Research by Shakti Vahini found that among 300 police officers interviewed in Haryana, Punjab, and Western Uttar Pradesh, 70 percent were against inter-caste marriages. This bias in law enforcement means that many cases go unpunished, with perpetrators receiving implicit support from officials who share their traditional values.
The geographic concentration of honour crimes
Honour killings have been reported primarily in northern Indian states including Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh, as well as in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. However, these crimes are not limited to these regions. The perception that honour killings only occur in specific areas prevents recognition of their widespread nature across Indian society.
In Tamil Nadu, field investigations by Evidence, an NGO working to protect Dalit and Tribal rights, documented 195 known cases of honour killings in the state over a five-year period, despite official records showing almost none. This massive gap between documented cases and official statistics reveals how honour crimes remain hidden in plain sight.
Stories that reveal the pattern
The case of Ilavarasan and Divya from Dharmapuri, Tamil Nadu, illustrates how honour crimes unfold and their devastating ripple effects. Ilavarasan, a Dalit youth, fell in love with Divya from the dominant Vanniyar community. When they eloped and married in October 2012, caste tensions erupted. Divya’s father committed suicide, triggering a wave of violence where members of the Vanniyar community torched Dalit settlements, resulting in multiple deaths and destroyed properties.
In July 2013, Ilavarasan was found dead near a railway track. While official investigations concluded it was suicide, his father and Dalit activists maintain it was murder. The case remains controversial, with his family continuing to seek justice.
Another tragic case involved Shankar and Kausalya from Udumalaipet. Kausalya, from the dominant Thevar community, married Shankar, a Dalit man studying in her college. Eight months after their marriage, they were attacked in broad daylight by hired assailants. Shankar died on the spot while Kausalya survived with serious injuries. The sessions court initially sentenced six people, including Kausalya’s father, to death, finding it a clear case of honour killing. However, the Madras High Court later acquitted the father for lack of evidence, though other accused received life sentences.
In 2003, Kannagi and Murugesan from Cuddalore district, Tamil Nadu, were forced to drink poison in full public view by Kannagi’s brother and relatives because Kannagi, from the Vanniyar community, had married Murugesan, a Dalit chemical engineer. Their bodies were then burned. The state police initially botched the investigation, and the case had to be transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation after appeals from Murugesan’s father.
Why local power structures matter
These cases reveal how local power dynamics perpetuate honour crimes. Dominant caste groups wield significant economic and political influence in their regions. They control local resources, maintain connections with law enforcement and politicians, and use this power to enforce their social norms. When couples transgress caste boundaries, these groups mobilize their resources to punish the violation and send a message to others.
Khap panchayats and similar bodies function as parallel justice systems, passing decrees that override individual rights guaranteed by the Indian Constitution. Their rulings carry weight because they represent the collective will of dominant community members who have the means to enforce their decisions through social boycotts, economic sanctions, and physical violence.
The legal landscape and its gaps
Despite Supreme Court interventions condemning honour killings and declaring them illegal, India lacks a specific law addressing these crimes. The National Crime Records Bureau reported 251 honour killings in 2015, though activists believe this significantly undercounts actual cases. By 2019, official records showed only 24 honour killings, not because the problem diminished but because these crimes are often reported as murders, suicides, or other offenses.
The Supreme Court has issued guidelines directing police to protect couples in inter-caste and inter-religious marriages. In the Lata Singh case, the court stated that once a person becomes a major, they can marry whomever they like, and that parents who disapprove can at most cut off social relations but cannot threaten, harass, or commit violence.
In 2019, Rajasthan became the first state to pass the Rajasthan Prohibition of Interference with the Freedom of Matrimonial Alliances in the Name of Honour and Tradition Bill, making honour-motivated crimes non-bailable offenses punishable by death or life imprisonment. However, the bill still awaits presidential assent to become fully effective law.
The absence of a comprehensive central law means honour crimes remain poorly documented, perpetrators often escape adequate punishment, and preventive measures remain inadequate. Women’s movements have long campaigned for dedicated legislation similar to laws enacted in other countries, arguing that only specific legal frameworks can address the unique nature of these crimes that involve conspiracy, planning, and often multiple perpetrators.
Beyond legislation
Legal reform alone cannot eliminate honour crimes. These killings reflect deeply entrenched beliefs about caste hierarchy, patriarchal control over women’s sexuality, and collective notions of family reputation. Educational institutions, workplaces, and even modern corporations sometimes enforce restrictions on women’s mobility and relationships under the guise of protection, maintaining the ecosystem in which honour crimes flourish.
A 2011 survey found that intercaste marriages account for only 5.8 percent of all marriages in India, a statistic unchanged for four decades. This stagnation reveals how social attitudes resist change despite legal protections. Breaking this pattern requires challenging the caste system itself, which depends on controlling marriages to maintain boundaries.
Survivors like Kausalya have become activists, offering support to other couples facing family opposition. Organizations provide shelter, legal aid, and protection to couples at risk. Some states have established helplines and special cells to respond quickly to threats. Yet these measures address symptoms rather than root causes.
The persistence of honour crimes forces uncomfortable questions about what India values more: individual freedom or collective tradition, constitutional rights or community norms, women’s autonomy or family reputation. Until these questions are resolved in favor of individual rights and dignity, young people will continue to pay with their lives for choosing love over caste.
What do you think? How can communities shift from viewing inter-caste marriages as shameful to seeing them as expressions of individual freedom? What role should the state play in protecting couples who face family opposition to their marriages?
References
- https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2018/3/14/honour-crimes-in-india-an-assault-on-womens-autonomy
- https://www.britannica.com/topic/honor-killing
- https://www.dhrdnet.org/honour-crimes-research-report/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honor_killings_by_region
- https://www.irb-cisr.gc.ca/en/country-information/rir/Pages/index.aspx?doc=454555
- https://www.theswaddle.com/honor-killings-india-law
- https://www.thenewsminute.com/tamil-nadu/will-ilavarasan-ever-get-justice-cb-cid-says-he-killed-himself-father-vows-fight-sc-57581
- https://swarajyamag.com/insta/not-a-case-of-honour-killing-but-suicide-due-to-depression-justice-singaravelu-commission-findings-on-elavarasan-case
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Udumalai_Shankar_murder_case
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Kannagi_and_Murugesan
- https://feminisminindia.com/2022/05/25/how-continuous-caste-based-honour-killings-in-india-prove-that-mere-love-is-not-enough/
- https://www.legalserviceindia.com/legal/article-2425-a-socio-legal-study-on-honour-killing-as-a-crime-in-india.html
- https://cdnbbsr.s3waas.gov.in/s3ca0daec69b5adc880fb464895726dbdf/uploads/2022/08/2022081053-3.pdf
- https://www.vice.com/en/article/an-indian-court-endorsed-intercaste-marriages-saying-its-the-only-way-to-kill-the-caste-system/
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