Abstract

This study explores the legality of honour killings within the Indian legal framework, focusing on their socio-legal components and judicial reactions. Honour killings, a deeply ingrained socio-cultural problem in different regions of India, include the assassination of persons, generally women, for purportedly bringing 'dishonour' upon their family or society by their marital choices. Despite India's extensive legal system and commitment to human rights, these deaths continue, creating difficult legal and ethical issues. The paper opens by describing honour killings in Indian culture, emphasising their frequency and cultural foundations. It digs at the legal rules prohibiting murder and how they relate to the phenomena of honour killings. The paper goes on to look at the applicability of various laws relating to domestic violence and women's protection in these situations, highlighting the gaps and difficulty in legal interpretation and enforcement. The article also investigates historic judicial decisions and the role of the Indian judiciary in creating the legal discourse on honour killings. It assesses the effectiveness of current legislation and judicial decisions in discouraging such behaviour and safeguarding victims. The role of law enforcement agencies and their often contentious handling of honour killing cases is also discussed. Finally, the report recommends for a stronger legal framework, stricter enforcement, and a revolutionary societal approach to end the practice of honour killings in India. It calls for the government, courts, civil society, and communities to work together to secure justice and protection for victims of this horrible crime.Honour killings, with women as primary targets and males as secondary targets in the majority of cases, have escalated into terrible forms of gender violence.

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