Four family members have been arrested for murdering a newlywed couple in Punjab, India in what police believe is a so-called “honor killing”. According to India News, Harpreet Singh and his wife who was seven months pregnant, Amandeep Kaur, belonged to different castes, which the police believed angered the woman’s family.
Kaur’s maternal grandfather and three uncles were arrested for the murders. Kaur’s father and mother were in Australia at the time of the murder and denied their involvement in the murders, reports India News.
Meanwhile, Indian women’s rights activists have called for a change in India’s laws regarding the rise of honor killings in India. According to OneWorld, the activists assert that honor killings make up ten percent of the killings in the northern Indian states of Punjab and Haryana. Most of the honor killings in the northern states of India involve two people in relationships from different castes or a couple running away to get married.