Karnataka Legislators Reveal Deep-Rooted Caste Bias During Honour Killing Bill Debate

In the Assembly, four speakers participated, including Law Minister H K Patil, who piloted the legislation, and the BJP’s R Ashok (the Leader of Opposition), S Suresh Kumar and V Sunil Kumar. In the Council, 23 speakers, including of the ruling Congress, and the BJP and JD(S), spoke on the Bill.

The law followed a caste-linked honour killing in Hubbali in December 2025 of a 20-year-old pregnant Lingayat woman, with her father accused of murdering her for marrying a man from another caste. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had promised then to introduce a law to check honour killings.

Law Minister Patil expressed satisfaction over the debate in the Legislature, saying it showed a genuine concern over caste discrimination, and hoped that the Bill could be considered “the beginning of a social dialogue” for change.

‘No live-ins… law only for respectful marriage’

Opening the debate, Law Minister Patil noted the name of the Bill – ‘Eva Nammava, Eva Nammava or ‘He/She Is One of Us’ – and said it referenced the message of universal humanity espoused by Lingayat saint Basavanna. “It is introduced with the intention of bringing about change in society and in a way a social revolution,” Patil said.

The two BJP leaders who spoke on the Bill in the Assembly, R Ashoka and S Suresh Kumar, asked whether existing laws in the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) were not sufficient to tackle honour-related crimes, and whether the new law intends to protect live-in relationships too. Suresh Kumar pointed to the phrase saying the law will protect persons desirous of marrying each other if they “declare their age and willingness to be together”.

Patil defended the Bill as having “some serious elements… from the point of social interest”, but took note of Suresh Kumar’s concerns regarding live-ins. Agreeing to drop the term “to be together”, the minister said: “This enactment will not support the living together concept. Let me make it clear, a respectful marriage, betrothal will be protected.”

‘Hate speech law, Rohith Vemula law… now this’

BJP MLA Sunil Kumar, from the coastal Karnataka region that is a hotbed of communal tensions in the state, argued that honour killings were nothing but murders, for which there were already laws. “Honour killing is just a term that some journalist or someone else concocted. You are bringing new laws for everything… One law for ‘hate speech’, another in the name of ‘(Rohith) Vemula’ and now for honour killing,” Sunil Kumar said.

Patil said the Bill was not restricted to honour killing but extended to the creation of fora and modalities for protection by the State of inter-caste couples before and after marriage. The minister also said that the new law would not override the BNS but be applicable along with the BNS provisions.

‘I can’t go to barber… cut my own hair’

At the start in the Legislative Council, the reality of caste discrimination was brought out by new MLC K Shivakumar of the Congress, a Dalit leader. “Since the days of my great grandfather, my grandfather, my father, my family, and even my children, have not seen the face of the deity in our village temple – that is over eight generations… I myself cannot visit the temple,” Shivakumar said.

On the Bill, he said: “Some inhuman practices that exist under the shield of tradition must be brought under its purview and penalized.” Changing society was hard, he added. “Apart from laws, we need education, NGOs, legislators and religious leaders… What is the value of a person who can become an MLC or the PM but cannot enter his own village temple?”

BJP MLC Chalavady Narayanaswamy, the Leader of Opposition in the Council and also a Dalit leader, spoke along the same lines. “Even if a family is poor, they will not tolerate a woman (of the family) marrying a Dalit man… If they accept the girl back, it’s only as a domestic worker,” Narayanaswamy said.

The BJP leader added: “My own associates… treat me differently… When we were in school, our father would cut our hair. When I was in Class 8, I went to the village barber and was questioned… I have cut my own hair since then.”

‘Love can’t be stopped… breaks barriers’

H Vishwanath, a Congress-turned-BJP leader and author-poet, spoke about how love can transcend barriers. “Love and affection is not something that can be trifled with… Love and affection break down all barriers. It cannot be stopped or controlled by anyone,” Vishwanath said.

However, the former MP admitted, “inter-caste wars” over marriages are a reality.

‘13 honour killings since 2020 in the state’

Congress MLC Ramesh Babu cited data to underline the need for a law to deal with honour killings. “Since January 2020, 13 incidents of honour killings have been reported in the state… In many instances, the crimes also relate to inter-religious marriages,” Babu said.

“There have also been murders, assaults, boycotts of inter-caste couples, attempts to separate them, criminal intimidation and abuse,” the Congress leader said while noting that numbers of inter-caste marriages were rising. While 2023-24 saw 4,826 inter-caste marriages officially recorded, the number in 2024-25 was 5,137 and in 2025-26, it was 5,402.

‘What about the parents?… Young lack maturity’

Several members of the Legislative Council, especially of the BJP, argued that women should not be allowed to unilaterally decide their marriage partners once they turn 18, claiming “lack of maturity”. They urged that the legal marriage age for women be raised to 21, the same as men.

Some BJP MLCs called for the new law to also protect the interests of parents of women who are “likely to be left in distress”.

“A law that has been drafted as a response to one or two adverse incidents should not turn out to benefit hundreds of cases where marriage is conducted with ulterior motives… You must strengthen the hands of parents in the same manner as you strengthen the hands of youths,” BJP MLC K S Naveen said.

Another BJP MLC, D S Arun, said youngsters feel empowered in the digital age and think what they are doing is right. “Ninety percent of victims in honour killings are below the age of 21… The father is usually very attached to the girl child and feels a lot of pain if something goes wrong in their marriages,” Arun said.

MLA and former BJP national secretary C T Ravi said such inter-caste conflicts seem to fade away if the party involved is wealthy or influential. “There is a separate caste of the IAS and KAS (Karnataka Administrative Service). There is a caste of the rich as well, and they will inter marry,” Ravi said.

He also argued that caste was not restricted to Hinduism alone, and that “there are castes and sub-divisions in Islam and Christianity”. “There is a need for creating awareness. There is a need to prevent misuse.”

‘Let young learn from experience’

Among women legislators, BJP MLC Bharathi Shetty took the same line as her male counterparts, saying there cannot be life without respect for culture and tradition and that 18-year-olds do not have maturity. “It should be an arranged marriage if the woman is 18, since they cannot decide in the fog of love.”

Shetty also argued that resistance to inter-caste marriages had reduced. “We see inter-caste marriages in our own families as well.”

Congress MLC Umashree, a former minister and actress, said opposition to young lovers in a society was an ancient phenomenon. “In a patriarchal society, the entire family turns against a woman who makes a decision on her own on her marriage.”

She added: “Youths may not understand things at a young age but I am of the view that they must go through experiences for learning and maturity. The issue of a girl and a boy tends to be taken to the doorstep of society and tradition.”