London, UK - More than 1,000 young people in India have been done to death every year owing to 'Honour Killings' linked to forced marriages and the country needs to introduce stringent legislation to deal firmly with the heinous crime, two legal experts have claimed.
Participating in International Child Abduction, Relocation and Forced Marriages Conference organised by the London Metropolitan University here, Chandigarh-based legal experts Anil Malhotra and his brother Ranjit Malhotra have said that in traditional societies, honour killings are basically 'justified' as a sanction for 'dishonourable' behaviour.
In a joint paper, they said: "Forced marriages and honour killings are often intertwined. Marriage can be forced to save honour, and women can be murdered for rejecting a forced marriage and marrying a partner of their own choice who is not acceptable for the family of the girl.
They said in India, honour killings happen with regularity in Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh.
"They happen not only within the Muslim community but also among Sikhs and Hindus."
Though there was no nationwide data on the prevalent of honour killings in India, they quoted figures compiled by the India Democratic Women's Association, according to which Haryana, Punjab and U P account for about 900 honour killings and another 100 to 300 in the rest of the country.
"The total figure for India would be about the same as estimated for Pakistan, which researchers suggest has the highest per capita incidence of honour killings in the world."
They said the ministries of home affairs and the law and justice are preparing to amend the Indian Penal Code (IPC) to define the act of "honour killing".
The demand for such a law was made repeatedly with the objective of stamping out this social evil.
"This aim is to provide for deterrent punishment for caste and community panchayats which should be booked for aiding and abetting such killings and as accomplices to the murder," they said.
They pointed out that the Supreme Court of India, concerned over the spate of recent 'Honour Killings' has asked the Centre and eight state governments to submit reports on the steps taken to prevent this barbaric practice.