Suicide or Honour Killing?
on Jane in India (India), 06/Aug/2011 10:31, 34 days ago
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A teenage girl died in Ganjam, Orissa last month. A story came out in the local paper that it was an "honour killing" (i.e. when someone is killed by their own family members for bringing shame and dishonour on the family). The girl, who was in tenth standard (14 or 15 years old), was reportedly seeing a boy that the family disapproved of. My boss and colleague, who coordinate the Orissa-arm of the'We Can' campaignto end violence against women, went to the village to investigate what happened, along with two members of theNational Alliance of Women. They spoke with the family, community members, police and doctor.Details from the fact-finding team:The girl's parents first reported that she died during suddenly the night from diarrhea. Her family members were taking her body to the jungle to be cremated. It is the custom in Hindu tradition for family members to carry the dead body wrapped in a sheet on a wooden stretcher to the cremation ground. On this occasion the family wanted to cremate her in the jungle instead of the normal village cremation ground. While carrying the body, someone noticed there was blood dripping from the head. They looked under the sheet and saw that there was a wound on the back of the head and marks and bruises on her neck. Clearly she had not died from diarrhea, and so the Sarpanch (like the mayor) of the village and her husband stopped the procession, delayed the cremation and reported it to the police. (The Sarpanch was a relative of the girl and so was present at the procession).The father was called to the police station and told the police that the girl had actually committed suicide, not died of illness. He said that the day before the family discovered she had been seeing an older boy they disapproved of, were angry at her and had an argument. The next morning she was dead. According to her brother, when she didn’t emerge from her locked room the following morning, he looked through the skylight to see her hanging from the roof by a sari. He said he cut the sari she was hanging from, her body dropped to the floor, causing the wound on the back of her head. The dead girl was dressed in her school uniform.When my colleagues asked questions about the clothes she was wearing when she died, they were told the night dress she had been wearing had been burnt as it was dirty. The police hadn't asked any questions about the dress, or taken any photographs of the dead body or scene. They generally showed anextremely weak attempt at any investigation into the death.The doctor has reported that it is a case of suicide and so the police haven’t looked into it any further. However many of the villagers don’t believe it was suicide. When the team arrived the father was not present and they were told that he had gone to get medical treatment as he had been beaten up by the villagers, suspecting he had been responsible. The team spoke to the girl’s friends who had been with her at school the days before her death and said she had seemed normal; nothing was out of the ordinary.The circumstances behind this girl's death are suspicious. It doesn’t seem to be a premeditated killing, such as many “honour killings” – most of which occur in Northern states such as Rajasthan. It could be that it was an accidental killing when a fight got out of control, or a suicide. I doubt there will ever be a thorough investigation, although my colleagues have been appealing to the authorities to bring the case to justice. Regardless of whether it was suicide or murder, the fact is that a young girl is dead for doing nothing more than being a normal teenage girl - meeting a boy. That the reaction of her parents could be so bad that she would commit suicide is just not right. And worse still, if the shame of the parents could be so strong that the only way to keep their “honour” is to kill their own daughter.50 million missing women in India:What is more disturbing is that this isn’t a unique case. Experts estimate more than 1,000 honour killings happen in India every year. Honour killings are just one element contributing to the massive gender gap in India. This year’s census revealed that there are only 914 girls to every 1,000 boys in India, a drop from 927 in 2001. So, despite the economy booming, more women getting good qualifications and careers, the situation is getting worse for women in this country. There are an estimated 50 million missing women in India – ‘missing’ meaning those who would be alive if there was a natural sex ratio. These women are ‘missing’ as a result of sex-selective abortions, infanticide, honour killings, trafficking, dowry killings. There is still a lot of pressure on women to have a son instead of a daughter and huge inequalities for women exist. Campaigns like ‘We Can’ are dedicated to changing this, recruiting individual Change Makers to change attitudes in their communities and end violence against women.Somearticles on this:India's missing women(the Guardian)Gendercide in India(the Economist)India mothers charged with daughters' honour killing(BBC)India court calls for 'stamping out honour killing'(BBC)