Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin.
Credit: PTI Photo
Chennai: Not keen on enacting a new law to prevent ‘honour killings’, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Tuesday batted for speeding up the legal processes to end the menace. He also announced that the government will appoint special public prosecutors as part of the efforts to expedite cases related to crimes caused by inter-caste marriages.
Stalin was speaking in the Assembly during a Special Calling Attention Motion on the attack on the CPI (M) office in Tirunelveli after an inter-caste couple sought refuge there. During the debate, the legislators asked the government to bring a new law to curb honour killings and all kinds of crimes related that are triggered by inter-caste marriages.
“I believe handling the cases in a proper manner and bringing the accused before the law is a better solution than bringing a new legislation to curb (honour killings),” Stalin told the Assembly. He also said efforts should be taken to ensure that cases filed under Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and Indian Penal Code are taken to their logical conclusion.
The CPI (M) office in Tirunelveli was ransacked on June 13 after the party office bearers helped conduct the marriage of an inter-caste couple, photos of which were uploaded on social media. “A case was registered and 14 persons have been arrested. While seven women have been released on bail, the remaining seven men are in jail. There is also prima facie evidence of a caste atrocity which prompted the police to invoke SC/ST Act,” Stalin said.
He said the DMK government, ever since it assumed office in May 2021, has been keeping a close watch on crimes against the society and expediting cases of honour killings. The CrPC mandates that a sub-inspector should be appointed as the investigation officer (IO) in such cases, but, Stalin said, the government will seek legal opinions and appoint Deputy Superintendents of Police (DSPs) as investigation officers.