Kamalalini
Khap Panchayats are self styled setups that have gained notoriety for resorting to honor killings of young couples or social boycott of their families for a simple reason that they chose to marry by choice. Right to freedom of life and liberty are the basic fundamental rights enshrined in our constitution. Rarely has anyone spoken against the Khaps in spite of their brutal misdeeds let alone anyone coming forward to register a case against them. The Court must set a precedent and uphold the prosecutions plea by ordering death sentence to guilty members of the Khap, which run as parallel Kangaroo Courts in our country.
Khap Panchayats in India
Khap is a cluster of villages united by caste and geography. It is as old as 14th century started by upper caste jats to consolidate their power and position. The main rule is that all boys and girls within a khap are considered siblings.
Khap Panchayat governs the khap formed by same gotra (clan) families from several neighbouring villages. Khap panchayats are prevalent in Haryana, western Uttar Pradesh and Parts of Rajasthan. Love marriages are considered taboo in areas governed by Khap panchayats. Those living in a Khap are not allowed to marry in the same gotra or even in any gotra from the same village. Many young couples have been killed in the past defying khap rules.
Khap Panchayat imposes its writ through social boycotts and fines and in most cases end up either killing or forcing the victims to commit suicide. All this is done in the name of brotherhood and its honour. It is due to the inherent weakness of democratically elected Panchayati Raj institutions, Khap panchayats have been powerful.
The 10-15 men who constitute a Khap settle disputes and control the lives of young people. Many village people also defend these caste panchayats as they deliver the verdict in one sitting whereas court cases drag for years. According to them, in many cases innocent people get harassed in the court and by police. Here as everyone is known so they cross check everything to ensure neutrality.
In some Haryana villages, the young girls are routinely threatened, abused and killed all under Khap verdicts. It is acceptable for the families to feed pesticide pills to the teenage girls and then dispose off their bodies by burning them without any police records. The entire onus of siblinghood rests on the girl. She is the keeper of village honor. Sometimes rules are bend for the boys but a girl is never allowed to bend the rules. If couples run away then, the families risk the boycott and hefty fines in lakhs of rupees. Even the other women of the house can suffer abuse.
In keeping with the khap rules, older villages try to keep the young people apart. Some schools are also forced to have separate timings for the boys and girls. Fearing their daughters would go astray, many parents marry them off at an early age. People have unquestionable faith in the justice of khap. The question of rights for women does not exist any where in the territories ruled by Khap panchayats.
Horror killings ordered by Khap Courts
Recently, Honour Killing also reported from the Shivaganga district of South Indian state Tamil Nadu. The horrific cycle of honor killings to protect the honour of a family or a caste has now spread its tentacles to entire India.
In Shivganga, 20 year-old Megala and 24-year-old Sivakumar, were told that they could not marry as they were related. Despite Megala’s love, her family married her off in June. She eloped with Sivakumar ten days after the wedding. Her family traced the couple and killed Sivakumar with sickles.
The killers included Megala’s father and brother. Megala says that everyone in her village, including her mother, justified the killing of her lover as she fetched shame to her community and village.
For the cause of loving a person in the same caste, the cultureless caste fanatics, in the name of honour, subjected the girl Monica (18) and her lover Rinku to brutal inhuman laws as both belonged to same Jat community of Haryana’s Nimriwali village.
The father of Monica, her brother, uncle and cousins are suspected to be behind the crime and are absconding. They had done this under the guidance and protection of Khap Panchayats, the apex body of caste based council.
The main function of Khap Panchayat is murdering couples of the same gotra or sub caste in the villages of rural India.
The murder of Monica and Rinku forced the Supreme Court of India to interfere in the issue. On June 21, 2010, the Supreme Court issued notices to the Centre, Haryana government and six other states to take action against the killing of young couples.
Nirupama, a 22-year-old journalist was found murdered at her home in Jharkand. Nirupama, hails from a Brahmin family, was in love with a boy from another caste.
In May 2009, a Court in Haryana awarded capital punishment to five persons and life sentence to one for murdering a couple for marrying against the societal norms. After the verdict, the Khap Panchayat openly challenged it. They collected money to file appeal against the court verdict and demanded change in the constitution of India.
Government plans to tighten noose on Khap Panchayats
In a bid to stop the murder of young couples and their family members in the name of tradition and honour, especially under the instruction of Khap panchayats in North India, the Union home ministry has come up with a stringent law.
The proposed law will make all Khap members accomplice in the crime, besides bringing all such cases under the purview of murder (section 300 of the Indian Penal Code).
The ministry has circulated the draft of the ‘Indian Penal Code and Certain Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2010’, to bring changes in the IPC, Indian Evidence Act, 1872, and the Special Marriage Act, 1954, and put a leash on the spate of honour killings in recent times.
The Supreme Court had issued notices to the Centre and the Haryana, UP, Punjab, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh governments seeking information on steps taken to stop honour killings.
The home ministry wants such killings to be brought under the purview of murder and have in place a proper definition of dishonour or perceived dishonour. The new IPC provision will make Khap members accomplice in the crime and prosecute leading members of caste panchayats.
During the trial, the burden of proof will be on the accused instead of the victims. For this, a new section — 105A — will be inserted in the Indian Evidence Act.
Besides, to ensure the safety of couples marrying against the wishes of families, communities and caste panchayats, the government proposes to do away with the present compulsory 30-day notice period in the courts under section 5 of the Special Marriage Act.
This means a couple will be able to tie the knot in courts immediately after giving an application for marriage.
It was felt that the present notice period, during which the photographs of the couples were pasted on the notice board of the court, was leading to easy identification of the couples. They were being harassed and even killed by the families later.
As for the IPC amendment, the ministry feels that since caste panchayats are informal bodies with no legal status, the members of caste and clan have to be treated as accomplices in the crime. The new law will view all members of the caste panchayat ordering the killing deemed guilty by virtue of their association with such a body, whether or not they supported the act.
In the new law, “dishonour” has been explained as acts such as adopting a dress code unacceptable to family, caste, clan, community or caste panchayat; choosing to marry within or outside gotra, caste, clan, community and engaging in sexual relations unacceptable to family, caste, clan, community or caste panchayat.
The National Commission for Women has sought severe punishment for people who give provocative statements favouring such killings.
The proposed amendments IPC section 300: Inserting a new (fifth) clause indicating that culpable homicide is murder if the act by which death is caused is done with the intention of causing death or if it is done by any person or persons acting in concert with, or at the behest of a member of a family or a member of a body or group of caste or clan/community/caste panchayat (by whatever name called) in the belief that the victim has brought dishonour upon the family/caste/clan/community or caste panchayat.
Indian Evidence Act: A new section 105A will be inserted, which says when death of a member of a family occurs and a person or a group of persons is accused of acts falling within the fifth clause of section 300 of the IPC, then, the burden of proving that the case does not fall within that section shall be upon such person or persons.
Special Marriage Act: In the Section 5, the words notice “for a period of not less than 30 days” shall be omitted.
Khap Panchayats seek legal claws
Irked at being equated with the Taliban and kangaroo courts, khap panchayats in Haryana are now determined to get some legal sanction. Soon, they will draw up a set of recommendations for making “suitable” amendments to the Hindu Marriage Act (1955) at the state level so that their rulings become valid under law.
At a two-day meeting in Rohtak, the Sarv Khap Panchayat, a conglomerate of various khaps, decided to set up a core committee to suggest amendments to the Act to disallow same-gotra and same-village marriages as per Jat tradition.
Lt Col (retd) Chander Singh Dalal, an advocate in Rohtak who organized the “seminar”, said: “After elections, I plan to send the draft recommendations to each of the 90 MLAs and persuade them to bring a Bill in the assembly. I am sure it won’t be opposed. Once the amendments are brought in, there’ll be no place for dispute.”
Justice (retd) Devi Singh Teotia, a former judge of the Punjab & Haryana HC, who actively participated in the Sarv Khap Panchayat, said: ”Khap leaders are keepers of Jat tradition and they have lately been facing flak for it. If the amendments come through, there will be no more clashes between tradition and the law, and they (the khap leaders) won’t be maligned.”
He said the amendments will be sought at the state level, so that they apply to any marriage taking place in Haryana. ”One of the sections of the Hindu Marriage Act says that you can’t marry your brother or sister, unless custom permits. This exception clause was added for some south Indian customs where sibling marriages are allowed under extreme circumstances. “Since Jat custom doesn’t permit marriage within the same gotra and in the gotra of one’s parents, we can seek a similar clause.
Similarly, certain other sections need small alterations,” he said. The meeting, attended by more than 150 khap leaders besides intellectuals, doctors and social activists from the community, also debated ways to improve the khaps’ image in the media. Teotia said he suggested that a handful of educated people from the community should be nominated to assist khap leaders in taking decisions and help them in media management.
Divorce granted by Khap Panchayats not valid: SC – 26.08.2010
Divorce between estranged couple approved by Khap Panchayats (caste council) will have no legal sanctity, the Supreme Court has ruled on 26.08.2010.
A Bench of Justices P Sathasivam and B S Chauhan upheld an Allahabad High Court judgement that had quashed a Varanasi Family Court’s ruling that divorce between Mahendra Nath Yadav and Sheela Devi had become effective since it had been approved by the khap panchayat.
“The High Court has rightly held that dissolution of marriage through Panchayat as per custom prevailing in that area and in that community cannot be a ground for granting divorce under Section 13 (desertion or cruelty) of the Act, 1955.
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