Guidelines to prevent honour killing issued

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Bhubaneswar: The home department of the state Thursday laid down guidelines for combating honour killing, in keeping with a Supreme Court ruling, and asked top officers to take serious action against those found guilty of the crime.
The Supreme Court had in March laid down a slew of preventive, remedial and punitive guidelines against kangaroo courts (khaps) and communal assemblies that target inter-caste and inter-religious couples.
All crimes related to honour killing will invite serious consequence under the law, additional chief secretary of the home department, Asit Tripathy, said.
“The guidelines or the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), laid down for the district collectors and Superintendents of police (SPs), proposes preventive and remedial measures to stop the menace,” he said.
The apex court had in its ruling also asked states to take measures to identify districts, sub-divisions and villages, where honour killing and khaps being convened have been reported in the past.
The home department directed superintendents of police to ensure that the officers-in-charge of all police stations exercise caution while dealing with cases of inter-caste and inter-faith marriages.
“Any information about a proposed gathering of khap panchayats received by any police officer should be immediately shared with superior officers and district superintendents of police, who can then take steps to prevent such gatherings or meetings by talking to the individuals concerned,” one guideline stated.
The SOP also said that such meetings, if video-recorded, could be used as evidence, if need be.
“The inspector-in-charge of police station shall forthwith lodge an FIR and take prompt action under appropriate provisions of law under direct and personal supervision of a top officer, who is leading the investigation,” the home department said in its guidelines.
Despite dissuasion, if a khap meeting takes place, a senior police officer will have to be present at the spot to see that no such decision was taken which may cause any harm to a couple or members of their family, it maintained.
The trial in honour killing cases should be undertaken by designated court on a day-to-day basis and preferably concluded within six months from the date of taking cognizance of the offence, the home department order stated.