Police plays role in honour killing

In numerous media reports it is made out that some local bodies like “khaps” or panchayats give diktat for “honour killing” of girls and/or boys who marry either out of their clan to upper or lower caste or within the same gotra or marry after eloping with someone despite disapproval of the girl’s family.

The fact, however, is that in most of these cases of honour killings it is the girl’s family like her father, uncle, brother, mama etc. who actually execute the girl along with the guy who she marries.

There are recent news items supporting this fact:

1) Man held for killing daughter for honour

2) Teenage lovers electrocuted for honour in Delhi

3) Delhi journalist, Nirupama, killed by her mother

In variably in all of these kind of cases the police files a case of rape alongwith/without a case of abduction on the guy and his family upon request from and in connivance with the girl’s family!!

The intention behind most of these cases is to harass, teach a lesson to and extort from the guy’s family. And police easily gets away with these acts routinely.

In a first of its kind slamming, Delhi HC pulled up the police for failing in its duty to protect girls from honour killing and conniving to charge guys as criminals and rapists.

News item below:

http://news.oneindia.in/2010/06/17/delhi-hc-slams-police-over-honour-killing-cases.html

EXCERPTS:

New Delhi, Jun 17:  In the wake of alarming and growing number of honour killing cases, the Delhi High Court has come down heavily upon the police for failing to protect people.

Referring to a massive hunt launched by the police in Mar 2010 to find Delhi police Commissioner’s dog, that went missing, the court remarked, “You can search the entire city if a dog of your boss is lost but you can’t provide protection to the people. This is what you are. What to talk about humanity when you don’t have shame.”

Slamming the police’s practice of turning the girl’s elopment cases into rape cases and putting the boy behind the bar, vacation judge Justice SN Dhingra said, “Its unfortunate that elopement cases are converted into rape cases. Your police is party in all cases of honour killings. You connive with parents and turn your face the other side. You send boys behind bars on rape charges and allow the parents to kill their daughter.

“How can you be so insensitive for a few bucks? In case of elopement, you register the case under section 376 (rape) of Indian Penal Code. You do not register case or take action where you should have done,” the judge said, adding that by putting men behind bars for marrying the woman they love the police were turning “normal citizens to criminals”.

These observations came when the court was hearing a case, which was brought up by Delhi High Court Legal Services Aid Authority, about a man was sent to jail for eloping with a girl on a complaint by her parents alleging she has been raped.