Laws in India to make honour killings a distinct offence?

Rattled by the spate of honour killings in northern states, the UPA government is preparing a legislative route to amend Indian Penal Code (IPC) and provide a deterrent punishment against khap panchayats, which order death penalty to young couples who marry defying caste barrier.

"We are seriously considering amending Indian Penal Code to make honour killing a separate and distinct offence and provide deterrent punishment," a top home ministry source told TOI.

The preparation to draft a bill to amend IPC to make honour killings distinct from ordinary murders by widening its definition under Section 302 gained speed after attorney general G E Vahanvati recently gave an opinion answering in the affirmative the home ministry's query `whether legislative intervention was necessary to make honour killings a specific offence'. More...

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