The recent surge in karo-kari isn't just a brutal crime wave; it reveals the decay in our laws, justice system and society that has rotted to the point where it mistakes control for respect.

The numbers should awaken any remaining sense of moral awareness. Though most cases vanish in the haze of family honour, personal matters, forced settlements or misfiled under lighter crimes, 105 women (according to police data) became victims of karo-kari this year through killings proudly performed by husbands, fathers and brothers.

Readers shouldn't take karo-kari for a cultural leftover. It's an investment. An investment that yields returns in fear, property and power. Declaring a woman kari arms men with a licence to wrest away her share, disown her or erase her altogether — all under a moral smokescreen. In many tribal belts, once a woman and her partner are killed........

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