187 honour killings in five years in Tamil Nadu, claims activist

Recently, a special court in Thanjavur court gave a historical verdict in a honour killing case in which one of the accused was given 37 years and two more accused were given 30 years each. This is the third sentence given against honour killing in a single year in the state. 

Despite the repeated court ruling, the state government is denying that honour killing cases are increasing. Activists, who are working closely with the victims of honour killing, demand the state government to pass a separate law to curb the crime. 

Speaking to DT Next, Kathir said that when the Supreme Court heard a case regarding honour killing, 22 state governments had agreed that the crime is still taking place in their respective states. However, Tamil Nadu is one of the very few states to say that there were no honour killings in the state. 

“The state government continues to refuse the reality. The fact is that 187 people were killed in the last five years in the state in honour killing incidents,” said Kathir. The courts in the state are proactive in giving judgments against honour killing, partly because there is a sustained movement against honour killing incidents in the state. 

Also, Tamil Nadu is the only state where there were three judgments delivered against honour killings in the last 12 months, which include the historical capital punishment in Sankar-Kausalya case. The state government can utilise the court judgments as records and can take efforts to pass a stringent law against honour killing. When there are strict laws, the parents and other victims who launch police complaint and file a court case would get protection and other needed help from government, including government jobs and pension, said Kathir. Speaking about death sentence given to accused in the honour killing cases, Kathir stated that as a Human Rights Activist he is against capital punishment. 

Similarly, he had educated the victims not to accept death sentence. Victims in all the three cases, including Kausalya, are against capital punishment. “Change in the mindset of people that there is no honour in honour killing can only bring an end to honour killing murders,” said Kathir.