IRJMSH Vol 9 Issue 11 [Year 2018] ISSN 2277 - 9809 (Online) 2348-9359 (Print) HONOUR KILLINGS IN INDIA: A SOCIAL STIGMA Dr. Ramesh Verma* Abstract India has attained a great advancement in every sphere of activity. Society has changed gradually with emerging socio-economic developments by adopting the pragmatic approach. Equal rights to the women vis-Ă -vis men are being ensured at every level in our progressive society. But, still very often we hear that young boys and girls are being killed in the wake of saving the honour of the family or society. Such incidents are reportedly increasing particularly in the northern region of the country. Honour killings are a blot on the society and it shows the feudalistic mindset of the perpetrators responsible for such killings. Every year, nearly 1000 young couples are being subjected to such killing in the name of honour. Mostly females are the victims of these killings, owing to the patriarchal structure of our society. These killings are against the constitutional provisions, which emphatically talks about equality, liberty and fraternity. The objective of the present paper is, therefore, to study and analyze the honour killings in India, which is tarnishing the image of Indian society. An attempt has been made to trace the history and examine the possible causes of these killings. The present study is doctrinal in nature and is based on secondary data gathered from various sources such as books, journals, reports etc. Keywords: Honour, Killing, Marriage, Dishonour. I. Introduction In India females in a family are considered the honour of the family. Women are the repository of the family honour as a daughter, wife and mother, while man regulates it. The greatest threat to this honour lies in the women, in her body, conduct due to her reproducing and procreating capacity.1 When a woman goes against the family, especially when they marry or elope with their partners belonging to different castes or community, the members of the family or the community kill them for sake of defending their honour.2 Despite the fact that in India woman has attained many rights under different laws including the equality right under the Constitution of India, still there are several instances of discrimination and violence committed against her. Some of these are reflected in the phenomenon of killing women on the milieu of the honour of the family. Honour killing is considered to be a crime that threatens the unity and harmony of the community and is a stern contravention of woman's basic human rights. Yet it is an observable fact that continues in India.3 II. Origin of Honour Killing Dr. Amin A. Muhammad traced the origin of honour killing back to pre- Islamic period when Arab settlers occupied a region adjacent to Sindh, which was known as Baluchistan. Originally a Baluch and Pashtum tribal custom, honour killings are founded in the twin concepts * Assistant Professor, School of Legal Studies and Research, Alakh Prakash Goyal Shimla University, Shimla-13 (H.P.). 1 Jyothi Vishwanath and Srinivas C. Palakonda,