Women and Caste - Critical Analysis of Honour Killings in Tamil Nadu

The review article aims at highlighting caste prejudice and honour-based violence against women in the 21^st century. This paper made an attempt to study incidents that happened in Tamil Nadu from 2014 - 2024. The purpose of this study is to explain how women are being dominated and killed in the name of caste.

The introductory part gives a glance at what honour killing is and why only women are being cornered by using caste and patriarchy as weapons to kill. Honour killing the term itself is a misnomer. There is no honour in killing women or men. The Social activists termed this as a Caste arrogant killing. In recent years, honour killing has grown as a deep-rooted social evil. It has become to bane for our society. It is the cause of atrocity on human beings, unfortunately, many deaths of young couples, young boys and young girls. It is heinous, brutal and barbaric. Manu, the famous lawgiver, said ‘where women are honoured, there the God dwells”. In patriarchal societies, most women fall victim to honour crimes by the members of the family. In certain cases, men can also be the victim of honour killings by family members.

The next part describes a complete critical analysis of various incidences that happened in the last ten years (2014 to 2024) by using the 5W 1H framework (Who, What, Why, When, Where and How) It also defines and analyzes the lacuna in the current legal system and how far it’s been helpful for the victims to claim justice in a shorter span of time.

The gender-specific violence is omnipresent. It cuts across all boundaries of caste, creed, class, religious beliefs, wealth or nationality. In India, customary practices, religious beliefs, social conditions, patriarchal notions and, above all, her subjugate nature are making women more vulnerable. The last part of the paper also questions and proposes suggestive measures and recommendations to reduce honor killing and help the victim to have a dignified and respectful life in the remaining part of their life span.

Keywords: Honor Killing, Caste System, Inter-caste Marriage, Legal Framework