Tirupur Court Sentences Six People to Death for Honour Killing

Though honour killings prevail in different parts of the world in different forms, when it comes to India, the barbaric practice relies on the twin orthodoxies of patriarchy and caste. Patriarchy preaches that a woman is considered as the reflection of her family honour. If the girl commits anything affecting that honour, her own family would kill her to defend or preserve the family’s honour.

As many as 5,000 women and girls get murdered by their family members around the world year after year by way of honour killings, according to the estimate of the United Nations Population Fund. 

In India, annually more than 1,000 such reported crimes are perpetrated; however, the number of crimes may actually be higher. Since the perpetrators are family members and they belong to dominant castes, the matters are always hushed up by the entire community.

But the recent judgment on an honour killing case from a Tirupur court has lit the hope of Kausalya, who lost her husband after being attacked for their inter-caste marriage.

Convicting all the eleven accused in the murder of the Dalit youth V. Shankar, a Tirupur court awarded death sentence to six people including the father in law of the deceased on Tuesday. 

Challenging the unwritten social norms which prevail in the society, Shankar had tied the knot to Kausalya who belonged to the Thevar community. The inter-caste marriage had irked Kausalya’s family as they belonged to an OBC caste with social and political clout in the state. 

On March 13, 2016, Kausalya and Shankar were brutally attacked by a group of 5 people armed with weapons in Udumalpet in Tirupur district. While Shankar bled to death on his way to the hospital, Kausalya survived after a long course of treatment. 

Overcoming the trauma, Kausalya had decided to fight against the honour killing and the caste system which has claimed the life of many people including Shankar’s. To fight against this caste system, Kausalya joined hands with women’s organisations in that area including the All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA). 

After almost 21 months of fighting for life and justice, Kausalya heard the judgment on Thursday. The Principal District Judge Alamelu Nataraj pronounced the judgment by convicting all the accused, including Kausalya's father Chinnaswamy, maternal uncle and another relative for murdering Shankar in Udumalaipet. Kausalya's mother Annalakshmi was found not guilty. However, a day after the murder, Kausalya’s father himself had surrendered before the sessions court.

“In Shankar's murder, three accused have been let free and I will challenge the high court against their acquittal and fight the case till they are found guilty in this case. If the parents challenge the judgment, I will take the legal route and fight the case. I believe in the jurisdiction. This judgement will set an example for other honour killings in the state," Kausalya said while reacting to the judgement.

Though it is the second time capital punishment has been awarded for honour killing, this victory over the evil practice has lit the hope of the activists who are fighting against honour killings.  

Earlier this year, a session’s court in Tirunelveli had sentenced a couple from Thevar community to death for murdering Kalpana, a Dalit woman. The "provocation" behind the murder was that the couple’s daughter Kaveri had eloped with Kalpana’s brother Viswanathan.