Inter-Caste Marriages Will Help Wipe Out Caste System

I am unable to call the murders done in the name of caste as either 'honour or dishonour killings'. They are brutal, premeditated murders.

- SUDHA RAMALINGAM

I am unable to call the murders done in the name of caste as either 'honour or dishonour killings'. They are brutal, premeditated murders. Such acts attract Section 101 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS). Murder attracts the punishment of death or imprisonment for life and is also liable to be fined under Section 103 of the BNS. Yet, time and again, we find that stringent law and punishment are not deterrent enough.

After every case of murder in the name of caste, like that of Kavin Selva Ganesh, there is a hue and cry to enact a special law against 'honour killing'. There is, of course, logic to this call, as such legislation will be seen as the State's response to treat such violence with iron hands. But even a casual perusal of special laws that deal with atrocities committed against Scheduled Castes and Tribes or the prevalence of child marriage despite the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, proves that legislation and stringent punishment cannot eradicate such offences unless there is a change in the minds of society.