Even as the government plans to bring legislation that will define and punish perpetrators of honour killings, a study said most violent reactions appeared to be prompted when a girl chose to marry a boy from a lower caste than herself. The study commissioned by the National Commission for Women (NCW) and conducted by NGO `Shakti Vahini' profiled 560 cases which reflected that honour killing was a north Indian phenomenon,...

When Nirupama Pathak left this remote mining region for graduate school in New Delhi, she seemed to be leaving the old India for the new. Her parents paid her tuition and did not resist when she wanted to choose her own career. But choosing a husband was another matter. Her family was Brahmin, the highest Hindu caste, and when Ms. Pathak, 22, announced she was secretly engaged to a young man...

Even as the government is contemplating bringing in a new law to deal with the spurt in honour killings, reports by human rights organisations show that cold-blooded murders in the name of saving family pride had been prevalent in many parts of the world. Honour killings have been rampant in orthodox and socially backward groups in many countries including India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Turkey, Jordan and the Palestinian Territories, they say....

Khap-sanctioned honour killings in north India may have hogged all the headlines but such sordid incidents have been reported from all over the country, a recent study has concluded. While there has been a spate of incidents in western Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana and Punjab, incidents have also been reported from other parts of the country. "We have been receiving complaints from states like Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand and Andhra...

With khap-dictated honour killings threatening to become a trend, the Centre is mulling an ordinance to rein in the caste courts meting out extreme punishments to young couples who don't follow the diktat against marrying within the same gotra. The Centre has already discussed amendments to relevant laws -- Indian Penal Code, Indian Evidence Act and Hindu Marriage Act -- to deter village elders from holding kangaroo courts which call...