Murder rap for honour killings

And all members of the body or group of the caste,clan or community or caste panchayat ordering or abetting the commission of an act by which death is caused shall be deemed to be guilty of having committed such act by virtue of their association with such caste panchayat or body of group of the caste,clan or community.

Punishment for murder is spelt out under Section 302 of the IPC: Whoever commits murder shall be punished with death,or imprisonment for life,and shall also be liable to fine.

Dishonour as perceived by the perpetrators of crime would include adopting an unacceptable dress code,choosing to marry within or outside the gotra,caste,clan or community,or engaging in sexual relations against the wishes of his or her family,caste,clan or community or caste panchayat.

As first reported in The Indian Express,the Home Ministry had proposed stricter clauses to crack down on honour killings. The draft bill amends Section 354 of the IPC to impose up to two years of imprisonment or fine or both for those who sexually harass or cause harassment of a woman by stripping whether fully or partly.

Similar punishment would be imposed on those who indulge in externment as well as those who cause such externment on a so-called dishonoured person either by force or otherwise from his usual place of residence.

Section 105 of the Indian Evidence Act would be amended to shift the onus onto the accused to prove their innocence in such suspected deaths as against ordinary criminal cases where the state has to prove the guilt of the accused.

When death of a member of a family occurs and a person or a group of persons is accused of acts falling within the fifth clause of Section 300 of IPC,then the burden of proving that the case does not fall within this section shall be upon such person or persons, says the proposed change in Section 105.

The proposed changes based on the opinion given by Attorney General Goolam E Vahanvati are listed for Thursdays Cabinet meeting. Though the states consent is required for such amendments,they are being bypassed considering the sensitivity of the issue and the substantial increase in the rate of incidence of such kind.

The ministry has also proposed that the Special Marriage Act be amended to abolish the 30-day domicile restriction for any person wishing to marry under the Act so that marriage can be performed even if the parties to the marriage lived in a place for even a single day.

This would allow the boy and the girl to avoid getting married in their place of usual residence and escape family members opposed to such inter-caste or inter-religion marriages who use all methods,including murder,to stop the marriage.

Non-communicable disease programme

NEW DELHI: A proposal for a Non-communicable Diseases Control programme,with a special component on geriatic care,is set to be placed before the Cabinet on Thursday. If the Rs 900 crore proposal is approved,it will put the focus on diabetes,cardiovascular diseases,stroke,cancer and geriatric care. According to Ministry officials this is the first umbrella programme for these diseases,which have not received the required attention so far. The new component is geriatric care. Currently there is no programme which deals with the care of senior citizens, sources in the Ministry said.