It is reassuring when an Indian state endorses the right of an adult to independent choice of partner and comes down heavily on violence against the couple. The Karnataka Freedom of Choice in Marriage and the Prevention and Prohibition of Crimes in the Name of Honour and Tradition Bill, 2026 was formulated in a state that has areas where caste is the leading reason for division. In the less developed regions of Karnataka, villages may be divided by caste. This, so far, remains one of the chief reasons for the rash of honour killings in Karnataka; recently a 19-year-old woman — she was seven-months pregnant — was beaten to death by her father and family for having married a Dalit boy. This appears to have provided the cue for the bill. The bill’s two aspects are of equal and urgent importance. It states that the consent of parents, family, caste or clan is not required when two consenting adults get married. Almost 80 years after Independence, this right is not self-evident in spite of what the Constitution says. In many instances, state laws tend to emphasise the authoritarian, caste- and community-bound structure of traditional society. In Gujarat, a couple applying for registration of marriage have to submit their parents’ identity documents, giving both the family and the State a determining power over their decision. The criminalisation of inter-caste and interfaith marriages is implied in such laws. Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh leave the burden of proof of innocence to the individual whenever there is a question of religious conversion.
Instead, the Karnataka bill criminalises violence against such couples. This directly attacks the practice of ‘honour’ killings and, going beyond the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, adds another five years of imprisonment for such a crime. Intimidation will also be punished. Legal aid for victimised couples, fast-track courts, monitoring committees would be arranged, while a body called the Eva Nammava Vedike, composed of officials and experts and headed by the deputy
commissioner, would help in conducting inter-caste marriages and offer counselling. Karnataka’s bill has, in other words, arranged for State protection for inter-caste couples at all
levels. As law, this could become a strong corrective to unacceptable forms of violent social oppression and establish the right to personal life choices. But it remains deeply shocking that India should still need such a law.