Indian Muslim Mothers Charged In 'Honor' Killings Of Daughters Who Married Hindu Men

NEW DELHI -- Two Muslim mothers in a northern Indian town have been arrested on accusations they killed their daughters for dishonoring the family by eloping with Hindu men, police said Sunday.

Newlyweds Zahida, 19, and Husna, 26, were strangled when they returned home after getting married to men of their choice, said Anil Kumar Kusan, a police officer.

Marriages between Hindus and Muslims are not common in India and are frowned upon by both communities, although there are more instances of inter-religious marriages among the educated urban population.

Across India, many marriages are still arranged by families. But with the booming economy and more women entering the work force, such traditions are slowly giving way to love marriages.

However, centuries-old caste and community barriers still come into play, and there has been a spurt in "honor killings" in recent years across northern India.

Zahida and Husna were neighbors in Baghpat, a town in India's Uttar Pradesh state, when they fell in love with two construction workers. They eloped and got married last week before returning home to make peace with their families, Kusan said.

The women belonged to Muslim families and their mothers, both widows, were furious, Kusan said.

Initial investigations showed that the mothers helped each other to strangle their daughters.

"We killed them because they brought shame to our community. How could they elope with Hindus? They deserved to die. We have no remorse," Khatun, one of the mothers, was quoted as saying by the Indian Express newspaper after her arrest Friday. Khatun uses only one name.

Earlier this week, India's Supreme Court recommended the death penalty for honor killings, calling the practice barbaric and feudal.

Most victims of such killings are young adults who fall in love or marry against their families' wishes. In some cases, village councils order couples killed who marry outside their caste or religion.

While there are no official figures, an independent study found around 900 people are killed each year in India for defying their elders.

Comments

[Brigette]

06:21 PM on 05/17/2011

I don't understand how something like this is psychologically possible. Yes, religion is an extremely strong influence. But instinct is stronger and instinct tells people to love their children. A dog won't kill its own puppy. These mothers raised these girls from birth, loved them, nurtured them all their lives. For those with kids, is there anything, anything at all that would make you strangle your own kids? It's unthinkable. I don't believe these mothers have "no remorse." Maybe they were simply mentally deranged, but I don't find any other circumstances under which they're not going to suffer for this for the their lives.

[Ian Faus]

01:12 PM on 05/23/2011

Two things. First this was a "grown" child so that natural instinct is not there as much. Second, the mother would see this as a deep betrayal and personal affront by her child.

If mothers can smother their new born infants, a grown daughter is not too hard to imagine. All human beings be it male or female have an automatic instinct to protect any infants, yet some women smother their own babies.

[Steve Rotert]

04:46 PM on 05/26/2011

And to think that some people feel that sharia law should be allowed to be practiced in this country. These two mothers are obviously stricken with a deep mental disease, and that disease is islam.

[scowr]

03:53 PM on 05/17/2011

This seems like some shady reporting.

"While there are no official figures, an independent study found around 900 people are killed each year in India for defying their elders."

Who is your independent source and why should we trust them?

"We killed them because they brought shame to our community. How could they elope with Hindus? They deserved to die. We have no remorse," Khatun, one of the mothers, was quoted as saying by the Indian Express newspaper...

And I'm sure Indian Express has no bias what so ever.

Honor killings happen and quite frequently - India is a huge country. But I'm still not convinced that its any more frequent than successful cross religion marriages in India, or at the very least, cross religion marriages that result in non-violent out comes. We just don't hear about those.

This kind of shoddy reporting just paints India and specifically Indian Muslims with a primitive paintbrush, when in reality the situation is a lot more complicated.

You want their to be better relations between religions? Then report on people who are working toward that end, in addition to the ones who are making it harder.

You want to report the truth? Then report the whole story not just the "independent studies" that support your pre-existing script.

[Steve Rotert]

04:34 PM on 05/26/2011

You just can't accept the fact that it was the mothers' own words saying that they were killed in the name of islam and not someones' word who was trying to make muslims look bad. This happens time and time again. "We killed them because they brought shame to our communtiy" Neither I nor any other person who sees muslims for what they really are said that, THEY did!

[Wairimu]

03:22 PM on 05/17/2011

Honor my foot.

[The Knocker]

01:41 PM on 05/17/2011

This article gave the impression as if this is limited to some Muslim culture only , but it is far from being the truth as one could see from the following evidence:

"Honor killings have been reported in northern regions of India, as a result of people marrying without their family's acceptance, and sometimes for marrying outside their caste or religion.
Among Rajputs, marriages with members of other castes can provoke the killing of the married couple and immediate family members. This form of honour killing is attributed[who?] to Rajput culture and traditional views on the perceived "purity" of a lineage.

"The Indian state of Punjab is notorious for honour killings. According to data compiled by the Punjab Police, 34 honour killings were reported in the state between 2008 and 2010: 10 in 2008, 20 in 2009, and four in 2010."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honor_killing

[altoplano]

04:23 PM on 05/17/2011

But it is a Muslim problem, nonetheless. You need to accept that instead of saying "Other cultures do it too".

[The Knocker]

07:18 PM on 05/17/2011

So then based your rational one could equally say when Christian priest rapes children to be a Christian problem and not law enforcement.
Are you sure you dont want to retract that statement?

[Warren Davis]

12:43 PM on 05/19/2011

Hindus have their own problems. There are an inordinate number of "kitchen accidents" that occur in rural Indian states when a husband decides he doesn't like his wife anymore or he wants another dowry.

[Kelroy J Stone]

01:39 PM on 05/17/2011

This is why I don't want them to come to America. They are killers. They kill their own children.
Because of religion. We don't do that here in America. Savages.

[gregkingms]

11:56 AM on 05/19/2011

Sorry to bust your bubble dude but we have wholesale slaughter of the unborn here most of the time for pure selfishness. Some women dont want to lose their figure, some dont want the inconvience of raising a child, some just dont want to change the way they live. A loss of natural affection. We will be held accountable as a nation for this attrosity.

[modchen]

02:53 AM on 05/24/2011

feel free to have an opinion on that when you grow a uterus. until then, anything you have to say is irrelevant; and even if you did manage to grow one, you still wouldn't get to tell me what i can and can't do with mine.

what differentiates us from them is our ability to choose our own fates. if you don't like it, feel free to move over there. we'll just miss you so much.

[Gemma08]

01:33 PM on 05/17/2011

The reasoning behind this law is to ensure the children of such a union are Muslim. If a Muslim man marries a non-Muslim woman, the children will be Muslim (in a Muslim country, for eg.) However, if a Muslim woman marries a non-Muslim, there is no guarantee that their children will be raised Muslim, since traditionally, children will be raised in the religion of their father, since the male is (again traditionally) the head of the household. A woman will more likely convert to the religion of her husband, than vice versa. Thus a Muslim man is allowed to marry a non-Muslim woman, and not vice versa. But although it is allowed for a Muslim man to marry a non-Muslim woman, its not encouraged.

[SouthStJo]

09:30 PM on 05/17/2011

How Romantic

[JessCostello]

12:48 PM on 05/17/2011

What's the story on the 2 Hindu construction workers?

[SoldAmerican]

12:22 PM on 05/17/2011

She is a Pakistani living in India.

When India/Pakistan was partitioned in 1947. People migrated over. Muslims who felt that they cannot live anywhere except in an Islamic republic went to Pakistan and the ones who felt (mostly Hindus) they need to live in a Pluralistic society moved over to India from Pakistan. However, this migration was allowed only for a few weeks after the parition.

India today takes money collected at Hindu temples. Thats right. The Indian govt takes all the money that is collected at Hindu temples. The do not do that at Church or Mosques. And then Indian govt uses that money to send Muslims to M_ecca on a Haj (all Indian Muslims are entitled for one trip paid by the Hindu temples and tax payers). and christians to Jerusalem (In the state of Andhra Pradesh)

What India ought to have done is provided for all the poor people who couldn't afford to migrate over to migrate. Good Muslims of Pakistan should have been allowed to come over to India if they desired to live in a free and pluralistic society and for Islamists living in India and the far leftists who are Islamist sympathizers to go over to Pakistan. They should have allowed that for the first 10 years.

Then we would not have these problems of Pakistanis living in India.

[Freenation]

12:42 PM on 05/17/2011

"India today takes money collected at Hindu temples"

this is the most bizarre conspiracy theory i have heard so far? even the right wingers in India didn't come up with this so far where did you hear this? all temple contributions are managed by the temple trust which is obviously a non-profit so they pay ZERO taxes to India govt and same goes for all religious institutions....as for Hajj for Muslim pilgrims it's a SOP to get votes...

"all Indian Muslims are entitled for one trip paid by the Hindu temples and tax payers"

now this is really laughable...there are metrics only the ones who can show that they don't have enough income to make the pilgrimage are entitled to apply and on this too there is a lottery, there is NO right as you put it...try throwing out something which is well researched...we have enough trolls here spreading rumors...but gotta admit this was one of the bizarre one...

[SoldAmerican]

12:45 PM on 05/17/2011

The Hindu
Religious and Charitable Endowment Act of 1951 allows State Governments and politicians to take over thousands of Hindu Temples and maintain complete control over them and their properties. It is claimed that they can sell the temple assets and properties and use the money in any way they choose.

A charge has been made not by any Temple authority, but by a foreign writer, Stephen Knapp in a book (Crimes Against India and the Need to Protect Ancient Vedic Tradition) published in the United States that makes shocking reading.
Hundreds of temples in centuries past have been built in India by devout rulers and the donations given to them by devotees have been used for the benefit of the (other) people. If, presently, money collected has ever been misused (and that word needs to be defined), it is for the devotees to protest and not for any government to interfere. This letter is what has been happening currently under an intrusive law.

It would seem, for instance, that under a Temple Empowerment Act, about 43,000 temples in Andhra Pradesh have come under government control and only 18 per cent of the revenue of these temples have been returned for temple purposes, the remaining 82 per cent being used for purposes unstated.

[SoldAmerican]

12:46 PM on 05/17/2011

Because of this, Knapp writes, 25 per cent of the two lakh temples or about 50,000 temples in Karnataka will be closed down for lack of resources, and he adds: The only way the government can continue to do this is because people have not stood up enough to stop it.

Knapp then refers to Kerala where, he says, funds from the Guruvayur Temple are diverted to other government projects denying improvement to 45 Hindu temples. Land belonging to the Ayyappa Temple, apparently has been grabbed and Church encroaches are occupying huge areas of forest land, running into thousands of acres, near Sabarimala.

A charge is made that the Communist state government of Kerala. wants to pass an Ordinance to disband the Travancore & Cochin Autonomous Devaswom Boards (TCDBs) and take over their limited independent authority of 1,800 Hindu temples. If what the author says is true, even the Maharashtra Government wants to take over some 450,000 temples in the state which would supply a huge amount of revenue to correct the states bankrupt conditions

[Mr Crabs]

03:44 PM on 05/17/2011

Wow that's some grade A conspiracy right there man.

[SoldAmerican]

06:01 PM on 05/17/2011

This is the internet decade. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to verify what I stated.

[beasteben]

11:55 AM on 05/17/2011

Religion sucks.

[SoldAmerican]

12:25 PM on 05/17/2011

IsIam and Christianity Sucks! Others are ok.

[JessCostello]

12:50 PM on 05/17/2011

You're full of crap.

[beasteben]

12:59 PM on 05/17/2011

I was raised as a Jew and it definitely has a lot of suck as well. "Religions Sucks" pretty much applies everywhere.

[DrHas]

11:49 AM on 05/17/2011

Of all the weird and twisted cultural things rural ppl do in india, this particular Muslim one was handpicked for the benefit of spreading more islamophobia as if there was any lacking. The killing of ones own kids has no roots in religion, I hope there's no one foolish enough to think that. It arises from age old cultural practices (having no base in religion) that prevail in extremely rural parts in 3rd world countries. If these ppl were to be subjected to an Islamic court (or any court) they would be convicted of murder.

[Freenation]

12:43 PM on 05/17/2011

India has scores of honor killings perpetrated by Hindus...while still it qualifies as a murder...AP being notorious for cooking up headlines just diminished it's standard a little bit more with this piece...

[Erewhon7]

12:49 PM on 05/17/2011

The same Islamo-primitive posted this within a few minutes of each other.

".try throwing out something which is well researched­...we have enough trolls here spreading rumors.."
and

"A­P being notorious for cooking up headlines "
and drumroll...

“try googling 'dancing Israelis'.­..”

ROFL MAO....

[artboxone]

01:43 PM on 05/17/2011

In a report on the global phenomenon of honor killings that was originally presented in The Middle East Quarterly (Vol 15, No. 2, Spring 2010) the author writes that
"... Although Sikhs and Hindus do sometimes commit such murders, honor killings, both worldwide and in the West, are mainly Muslim-on-Muslim crimes. In this study, worldwide, 91 percent of perpetrators were Muslims. In North America, most killers (84 percent) were Muslims, with only a few Sikhs and even fewer Hindus perpetrating honor killings; in Europe, Muslims comprised an even larger majority at 96 percent while Sikhs were a tiny percentage. In Muslim countries, obviously almost all the perpetrators were Muslims. With only two exceptions, the victims were all members of the same religious group as their murderers."

http://www.meforum.org/2646/worldwide-trends-in-honor-killings

[JessCostello]

12:51 PM on 05/17/2011

What would the children be convicted of? Muslim women are not allowed to marry non-Muslim men.

[Suresp77]

02:42 PM on 05/17/2011

"Muslim women are not allowed to marry non-Muslim men. " NO LAW against this, its a community thing really, and the bias against inter-religion marriage is Illegal in India as it is here.

[ken607]

11:47 AM on 05/17/2011

republicans have dishonored us all does that mean..........

[JessCostello]

12:51 PM on 05/17/2011

You can try.

[d wayne]

01:48 AM on 05/18/2011

Republicans fight back!

[ken607]

09:29 AM on 05/18/2011

we know all about the violent tendencies of republicans. and ooooo im soooo scared. im shakin in my boots.

[silverspirit2011]

11:42 AM on 05/17/2011

Can someone explain how the daughters dishonored their mothers and community by marrying Hindus?

Oh, I remember - Muslim women are only allowed to marry Muslim men. Because it is in the qu'ran. Yet Muslim men can marry non Muslim women. (people of the book).

Maybe the women wanted to marry Hindus just to get away from this Islamic nonsense. That may be the most damning argument of all.

[Steve Rotert]

05:15 PM on 05/26/2011

You have to realize that, in the islamic world, just "being" female is dishonorable and offensive. Once you acknowledge that, then you can proceed to try and understand their actions.

[USAfarmboy]

11:30 AM on 05/17/2011

looks like islamic muslim women are just as barbaric as their husbands. when youve been ruled by the hand for 2000 yrs. its all you know. these old school beliefs cannot and will not be changed within the next century.

[Tolms]

01:01 PM on 05/17/2011

"islamic muslim women" umm...ok...

Anyway, classifying a whole group of people as barbaric based on the actions of a few is wrong. I would say either just admit you are a hateful small minded person.

[Suresp77]

02:44 PM on 05/17/2011

no less than a lot of very zealous, far right pro-lifers in this country really.

[TYRANNASAURUS]

10:43 AM on 05/17/2011

Indian Mothers Charged With Killing Daughters In 'Honor Killings'............

It's tragic but eastern people have very strict control rules that go way back in time........ and they don't change..... any quicker than someone in the west would change their religion.

[MadeleineA]

01:30 PM on 05/17/2011

Many people in the west try out many kinds of religion before dropping religion altogether.

[catlover80]

10:38 AM on 05/17/2011

wait, wait..Islam is a religion of peace! oh wait...

[GeorgeP922]

11:05 AM on 05/17/2011

Always have at least a few bigots trying to capatlize.

You know hindus and other religions do honor killings too.

You know a lot of christian men in America kill their wives when they leave them. Ask any cop, husband is first suspect.

Why do you live in America?

[Erewhon7]

11:51 AM on 05/17/2011

Wherever you find articles about latest outrages by Muslim fundamentalists, you find a legion of Gerogep933s of the world hurriedly trying to set smoke screens for Islamic practices-- a religion sanctioned by the liberals..
You will never, ever find these Georges trying to introduce asides about the evils of Islam when discussing Christianity.

[Steve Rotert]

05:20 PM on 05/26/2011

You're correct, but that's not because of religion, that's just uncontrolled primal jealously.

[ken607]

11:46 AM on 05/17/2011

i remember when god asked,( i believe it was abraham) to kill one of his kids, and thats christianity. so much for your thought!

[beasteben]

11:54 AM on 05/17/2011

Hey, that's Jewish! Christians came later.

[JessCostello]

12:54 PM on 05/17/2011

Abraham was not a Christian and guess what,  he was stopped from killing his child.