Five Young Indians, Suspected Victims Of ‘Honor’ Killings

Police on Saturday reported that five young people in northern India are deemed to have been killed by their families or partner’s relatives in suspected honor killings, in three separate events this week.

On Friday, police arrested the father and brother of a 19-year-old Hindu woman on suspicion of murdering her and her 23-year-old lover, both of whom belong to the lowest Dalit caste.

According to police, it is suspected that the couple were killed after they were caught having sex at their home in Shamli district in Uttar Pradesh state.

Bhushan Verma, investigating officer in Shamli, stated “We have arrested the father and brother of the girl. They told us they killed them because she had brought disrepute to the family.”

“We are investigating to see if there were more relatives involved. Both were strangled to death.”

This followed another Hindu couple in their 20s, on Thursday, who were found dead in neighboring Saharanpur district, which is also in Uttar Pradesh, after their families were supposedly against their relationship.

However, the police have not ruled out suicide after the couple were discovered hanging in the man’s house.

“It could be honour killing or suicide. We are waiting for the post-mortem reports to confirm the cause of death,” Pradeep Kumar Yadav, police chief of Saharanpur said.

Yadav claimed that the couple had been in a three-year relationship and intended to marry but encountered resistance from both families.

Both of the deceased couples were seen to be biologically unrelated to each other.

Nonetheless, in both cases, the couples were of the same ‘gotra’ or kinship class, which is perceived as incestuous by many Hindus although there are no biological ties and which can be a reason for such killings.

In a third and separate case, police found a body of a 16-year-old Muslim boy, on Thursday. He was discovered buried near an edible oil factory in nearby Muzaffarnagar district, after he went missing from his home, earlier on.

Police asserted that the teenager had been in a relationship with the niece of the factory’s Hindu owner and that her relatives strangled him in order to protect the “honour of the family”.

Deepak Kumar, police chief of Muzaffarnagar district reported that “We have arrested the girl’s brother, uncle and cousin for the murder.”

Throughout India, marriages outside one’s caste or religion still draw condemnation.

Honor killings, which often have couples targeted because their families or communities disapproval of their relationship, have been going on for centuries in the country, most especially in rural areas.

They are mostly carried out by close relatives or village elders who see it as a means to protect what is considered as the family’s reputation in a hereditary caste system.

According to United Nations statistics suggest that 1,000 out of about 5,000 such murders that happen worldwide occur in India.

India’s Supreme Court passed a ruling in 2011 that those guilty of such acts should face the death penalty.

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Posted by modousarr on Jul 23 2016. Filed under Latest News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.