Indian court recommends death penalty for "honour killings"

May 10, 2011, 7:59 GMT

New Delhi - India's Supreme Court has recommended the death penalty for those convicted of committing 'honour killings,' a news report said Tuesday.

'It is time to stamp out these barbaric, feudal practices which are a slur on our nation,' the court said, according to The Hindu daily, while upholding a sentence of life imprisonment for a man who killed his daughter in a such a crime.

In India, capital punishment is handed down only in very rare cases and honour killings are treated like murders, punishable in most cases with a life sentence.

The court said that in its opinion 'honour killings' came within the category of the 'rarest of rare cases' that deserved the death penalty.

'This is necessary as a deterrent for such outrageous, uncivilized behaviour. All persons who are planning to perpetrate 'honour killings' should know that the gallows await them,' the court said.

There is no composite data on the number of such crimes in India but activists say scores of men and women are ostracized or killed every year for defying caste and kinship traditions, particularly in northern states like Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

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