Left parties and the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) have submitted a joint letter to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin demanding a special law against caste-based honour killings. It assumes significance in the wake of the brutal murder of Dalit youth Kavin Selvaganesh.
The letter was submitted to the CM at his residence on August 6 by VCK president Thol Thirumavalavan, Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] state secretary P Shanmugam and Communist Party of India (CPI) state secretary R Mutharasan.
“Caste-based honour killings are not committed by individuals or families alone. They are also driven by societal pressure on parents, threats from caste-dominant forces, kangaroo courts (katta panchayats), and ideologies of ‘honour’ and ‘caste purity’. These are the underlying factors. Therefore, existing criminal laws alone are not sufficient to prevent these acts,” the letter said.
Explicitly classifying murders of inter-caste marriage partners as caste-based honour killings, rather than merely as murders, would help collect relevant data, build public awareness, and shape collective condemnation of such atrocities, it said.
The Left and the VCK also pointed out that treating such cases as ordinary murders “fails to account for the deep-seated social coercion underlying caste-based honour killings”.
“In caste-based honour killings, the burden of maintaining caste purity is often placed on women, and it is usually non-Dalit women who are killed. These crimes do not occur only between Scheduled Castes and other communities. They also happen between non-SC communities and even within Scheduled Caste communities,” the letter said.
The VCK and the Left also highlighted the lack of clear legal provisions to appoint special public prosecutors, expedite trial proceedings, or secure compensation for victims.
The letter emphasises the need to shift the burden of proof onto the accused and ensure that the instigators, including relatives and people who are part of supporting networks, are prosecuted.
The letter said the need for a special law against so-called ‘honour’ killings has been repeatedly emphasised by legal experts, social researchers, activists, and survivors. In June 2024, Chief Minister Stalin had stated in the Assembly that it is better to conduct investigations correctly and bring perpetrators to justice using the existing laws.
The SC wing of the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee is currently holding a protest demanding special legislation at Sathyamurthi Bhavan, the party’s state headquarters. In September 2024, the CPI(M)’s anti-caste organisation, the Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front (TNUEF), had organised a protest in Chennai demanding a special legislation.
The letter also lists previous legislation and reports, judgements, and draft bills that have put forward the case for a special law to prevent ‘honour’ killings:
In 2010, the National Commission for Women (NCW) proposed a draft bill titled ‘The Prevention of Crimes in the Name of 'Honour' & Tradition Bill’.
In 2012, the Law Commission of India recommended the need for a special law in its report Prevention of Interference with the Freedom of Matrimonial Alliances (in the name of Honour and Tradition): A Suggested Legal Framework.
In 2015, CPI(M) legislative group leader A Soundararajan introduced a private member’s bill titled ‘Prevention of Honour Killings’ in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly.
Justice V Ramasubramanian of the Madras High Court made recommendations including special cells in every district, 24x7 helplines, and integration with the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network & Systems (CCTNS) network.
In 2019, the Rajasthan state government passed the ‘Prohibition of Interference with the Freedom of Matrimonial Alliances in the Name of Honour and Tradition Bill’.
In 2022, a people’s draft bill titled ‘The Freedom for Marriage and Association and Prohibition of Crimes in the Name of Honour Bill’ was proposed.
The bill was drafted by the Dalit Human Rights Defender Network, a coalition of anti-caste activists and organisations headed by A Kathir, executive director of the Madurai-based rights group Evidence. It recommends protective measures against ‘honour’ killings motivated by faith, age, gender, sexual orientation, language, caste, class, race, status and tradition”.
Kathir submitted a copy of the draft bill to CM Stalin in 2022.
