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@article{197654,
        author = {Kasturi Bhattacharya},
        title = {HONOUR KILLING AND CRIMINAL LIABILITY UNDER BNS},
        journal = {International Journal of Innovative Research in Technology},
        year = {2026},
        volume = {12},
        number = {11},
        pages = {8383-8388},
        issn = {2349-6002},
        url = {https://ijirt.org/article?manuscript=197654},
        abstract = {Honour killing is one of the social evils that have their origin in patriarchal ideology, caste structure, and family honor. Although honour killing has, at various points of time, been given legitimacy under various social norms and regulation of communities, it is an anomaly under the fundamental human rights principles of life, liberty, and freedom as enunciated under the Indian Constitution. Although there is no such law of honour killing under Indian law, the Indian judicial system has condemned the crime of honour killing and extrapolated the criminal liability with regard to such an act under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, superseding the Indian Penal Code, 1860.
The article also traces the judicial evolution of honor killing, from the recognition of individual choice in the case of Lata Singh v. State of Uttar Pradesh (2006), where the Supreme Court of India held that "the freedom of adults to marry is a matter of choice," to a more critical approach articulated in Bhagwan Dass v. State (NCT of Delhi) 2011, where honor killing was termed "barbaric and feudal." The article traces with importance the case of Shakti Vahini v. Union of India (2018), whereby the Supreme Court of India laid down preventive, remedial, and punitive measures, recognizing honor killing as a heinous violation of basic human rights and the role of the State in preventing honor killing.
Honour killing, though undefined, is made punishable under the BNS through sections on murder, culpable homicide, abetment, criminal conspiracy, unlawful assembly, and common intention, making it thus possible to prosecute not only actual perpetrators but also the family members and khap panchayats for instigating or planning the same. The methodology of the research for this paper is doctrinal.
The paper concludes that though the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita has enough provisions to deal with the problem of honour killings, the lack of a separate provision may affect the deterrent effect. The paper, therefore, recommends that there should be more preventive enforcement, social sensitization, and a separate legislative provision to completely eliminate honour-based crimes and ensure the constitutional values of dignity, equality, and liberty.},
        keywords = {honour killing, Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS), criminal liability, equality, liberty, fundamental human rights, right to life.},
        month = {April},
        }