Bonjour Planet Earth: Honour killing madness in India's Punjab...

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Honour killing madness in India's Punjab...

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, said.

"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. More...

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