6 September 2007. Keywords: India – Honour killings – Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of. Atrocities) Act, 1989 – Murder. This response ...
Refugee Review Tribunal AUSTRALIA
RRT RESEARCH RESPONSE Research Response Number: Country: Date:
IND32319 India 6 September 2007
Keywords: India – Honour killings – Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 – Murder This response was prepared by the Research & Information Services Section of the Refugee Review Tribunal (RRT) after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the RRT within time constraints. This response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. This research response may not, under any circumstance, be cited in a decision or any other document. Anyone wishing to use this information may only cite the primary source material contained herein.
Questions 1. Please research the Prevention of Atrocities Act enacted in India in 1989 and let me know if it mentions honour killings in consequence of caste marriages. A copy of the Act might be helpful. 2. If the abovementioned Act does not mention such honour killings, does India have a criminal code or similar that outlaws murder?
RESPONSE 1. Please research the Prevention of Atrocities Act enacted in India in 1989 and let me know if it mentions honour killings in consequence of caste marriages. A copy of the Act might be helpful. 2. If the abovementioned Act does not mention such honour killings, does India have a criminal code or similar that outlaws murder? The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act (1989) does not specifically mention honour killings. At s2(1)(a) of the Act, “atrocity” is defined as “an offence punishable under section 3”. Section 3 of the Act does not make specific reference to the offence of murder, but includes it through reference, at s3(2)(v), to certain offences under the Indian Penal Code: 2)
Whoever, not being a member of a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe, … v) commits any offence under the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860) punishable with imprisonment for a term of ten years or more against a person or property on the ground that such person is a member of a
Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe or such property belongs to such member, shall be punishable with imprisonment for life and with fine (Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, Sikkim Government website, 11 September http://www.sikkimgovtwelfare.org/POA%20Acts.pdf – Accessed 4 September 2007 – Attachment 1).
The Indian Penal Code includes the offence of murder at s300 (‘Indian Penal Code: Section 300. Murder’, Vakilno1.com website http://www.vakilno1.com/bareacts/IndianPenalCode/S300.htm – Accessed 6 September 2007 – Attachment 2), and s302 provides that “[w]hoever commits murder shall be punished with death, or imprisonment for life, and shall also be liable to fine” (‘Indian Penal Code: Section 302. Punishment for murder’, Vakilno1.com website http://www.vakilno1.com/bareacts/IndianPenalCode/S302.htm – Accessed 6 September 2007 – Attachment 3). List of Sources Consulted Internet Sources: Copernic search engine Databases: ISYS (RRT Country Research database) List of Attachments 1. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, Sikkim Government website, 11 September http://www.sikkimgovtwelfare.org/POA%20Acts.pdf – Accessed 4 September 2007. 2.
‘Indian Penal Code: Section 300. Murder’, Vakilno1.com website http://www.vakilno1.com/bareacts/IndianPenalCode/S300.htm - Accessed 6 September 2007.
3.
‘Indian Penal Code: Section 302. Punishment for murder’, Vakilno1.com website http://www.vakilno1.com/bareacts/IndianPenalCode/S302.htm – Accessed 6 September 2007.
