Research Journal of English Language and Literature (RJELAL) A Peer Reviewed (Refereed) International Journalhttp://www.rjelal.com; Email:editorrjelal@gmail.com Vol.4.Issue 1.2016 (January-March) RESEARCH ARTICLE ISSN INTERNATIONAL STANDARD SERIAL NUMBER INDIA 2395-2636 (Print):2321-3108 (online) A POST-COLONIAL FEMINIST ANALYSIS OF THE CONCEPT OF VIRGINITY AND HONOUR IN THE EPIC THE MAHABHARATA TO DE-STIGMATIZE THE HONOUR AND HONOUR BASED CRIMES NISHTHA MISHRA Research scholar Department of English and M.E.L University of Allahabad, India. RJELAL Research Journal of English Language and Literature ABSTRACT A girl child when born has an indispensible stigma attached to her body and that stigma is the stigma of honour. The unit of measurement of her character is the purity of her body. And thus, every crime and violence directed against the body of a girl is somewhere associated with the stigma of honour. This honour stigma plays a key role in the objectification of women too. This paper explores how this honour stigma is the chief cause of gender based violence and gender-related crimes and how literature has been misinterpreted to support it. CKY PUBLICATIONS Most girls in South Asia are born with the invisible yet iron-strong shackles for virginity protection for the sake of family honour. The cloak of honour should not fall from a girl's shoulders and the men of the family have to act as the pin that holds this cloak in place. This pin should make the cloak remain at its destined place even if it hurt the shoulders and make it bleed in that attempt. Girls are considered to be the flag bearers of the family honour while the males of the house consider themselves responsible for protecting it at any cost. This remains an unspoken rule in almost every household since centuries but at the same time it has not been present since eternity. Because of this stigma, both men and women of these countries somewhere or the other feel away from their grounds and suffer a sense of bondage as when amidst the vast expansion of a sea. Thus, it is important for those who spear-head the movements of preservation of cultural heritage to know that what they have been practicing in the name of protecting culture has no roots but only shoots; and if you forget to water the roots, the shoot is bound to die. Before reclaiming what Vedic Culture had to say about this issue, the present scenario has to be analysed in light of the crimes that occur due to the honour stigma that has been attached to the girls. According to CARE's report, 2015, Child marriage for the protection of pre-marital virginity has been a crime prevalent till date in most South Asian countries. In this way, the objectification of newborns start since their birth as if they are some material whose purity is an acute responsibility and thus is transferred from one shoulder to the other and in which the object (here the girl) has no say. In different reports by UN and WHO, Female Genital Mutilations (FGM) has been