'However, caste panchayats are informal bodies and have no legal status as such. Often, villagers give precedence to the judgement of a caste panchayat rather than that delivered by the courts of law,' he added.

While stating that the government was deeply concerned about violence against women, Chidambaram said that real progress could only be made by addressing the causes that are rooted in anachronistic attitudes and false values.

Some of the steps initiated by the government to stamp out these crimes include the enactment of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, setting up helplines for women in distress under the Swadhar Scheme of the ministry of women and child development and redressal of grievances through interventions of the National and State Commissions for Women, the minister pointed out.

Since honour killing was not a crime classified separately under Indian laws, Chidambaram said no data was collected separately by the National Crime Records Bureau and it was covered under the selection leading to murder.

'Moreover, it is difficult to identify or classify an honour killing as such in any given community since the reasons for such killings often remain a closely guarded private family matter,' Chidambaram said.