Earlier this week at a consultation on ‘honour’ killings, senior advocate Vrinda Grover asked: Can we please find another word to describe the murder of young people by their families for choosing to fall in love with someone of a different caste or faith?

“Words matter,” Grover said. “We need a new language.”

The 25-or so of us in the room nodded in agreement, but remained silent. We have all grappled with the dilemma of finding a more appropriate term to describe this truly heinous crime. To call it murder doesn’t even begin to describe what comes packed with the burden of history, tradition, and caste purity. Underlining all this is a society that fears the autonomy of adult daughters, expecting them to submit to male authority — father, brother, husband, son — yet believes that family honour is dependent on them.

This week even the Supreme Court noted, “at the root of this crime is the deeply entrenched hierarchical caste system in India, and ironically, this most dishonourable act goes by the name of honour-killing.”

The Centre for Law and Policy Research has a draft bill called The Freedom of Marriage and Association and Prohibition of Honour........

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