An honor killing or shame killing is the murder of a member of a family, due to the perpetrators' belief that the victim has brought shame or dishonor upon the family, or has violated the principles of the community or religion to which the family belongs.
Honor killing has been something unheard of for us Keralaites. When we got to read or hear about honour killing , we always thought that it would be something occurring only in North India, where the literacy rate is low and the social situation is under developed compared to that of ours. Until the news of Kevin's murder at Kottayam came out in the open.
Honor killing is executed by one family over the other, based on the family's social status, money power and muscle power. Neenu's family considered that her affair and subsequent marriage with Kevin, who is from a different caste as well as from a poor background, has brought dishonor to the family name. In this case, Neenu's family was highly positioned and therefore, her parents executed honor killing on Kevin, who was from a poor background. Though the Kottayam incident was an isolated one, it was so shocking to learn that such things happen in Kerala which claims to be developed and 100% literate.
The paradox is that Neenu's parents themselves belong to two different religions, and had married each other challenging the cast based marriage laws. But they were not at all understanding when it came to their daughter and took up arms against her decision, when she followed her parents' footsteps in finding her life partner.
If Neenu's family were to go by the actual practice of what honor killing or shame killing is, as it is done in a traditional sense, they should have killed Neenu along with Kevin, to allegedly restore the tarnished family name. But they chose the 'pragmatic' solution of taking the boy out of the picture to convince the girl to come back. The couple's love for each other were not given a chance at life.
It is so natural for a young boy and girl to fall in love with each other, irrespective of cast, culture, geography, language, religion and financial background. If at all some may label it as a crime to have two inter cast people falling in love, both parties are equally responsible for their decision.
So killing is the only way to restore the family's lost 'honor'? A family issue that could have been settled amicably, came to a gruesome end and was made known to a population of 3 crore Keralities. In reality who brought dishonor to the family now, the daughter who put love above caste and wealth or her family who resorted to coersion, crime and murder? Keralites have been convinced about the side to which the scales of the principles of honor will tip.
Image Courtesy: manoramaonline.com
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