The Honour of a Woman (The Honour Series Book 1)

What Does It Truly Mean to Honour a Woman?

Is honour a measure of silence and submission—or is it forged in the fire of survival, sacrifice, and defiance? The Honour of a Woman confronts this question head-on through the compelling, intersecting stories of three Indian women whose lives are shaped by betrayal, hardship, and resilience.

In these deeply affecting narratives, a young bride trapped in a violent marriage, a single mother pushed into sex work to protect her children, and a working-class woman battling poverty and abuse all navigate a world where female agency is often suppressed. Yet, each woman redefines honour not through compliance, but through strength, sacrifice, and the courage to act when everything is at stake.

A poignant, powerful exploration of love, dignity, and the brutal cost of survival, this contemporary novel challenges the traditional ideals of virtue with a more human—and far more courageous—truth.

Get your copy of The Honour of a Woman and witness what real honour looks like.

Excerpt from the book

Three Cases

Amidst the hue and cry in the country about the increasing crimes against women, two cases had grabbed the headlines of leading newspapers and television channels. The two cases were not so much about crimes against women, but rather about the honour of women. Both cases had come to trial, and there were a lot of debates, talk shows, and editorials about them. The facts of the cases appeared to be quite stark, leaving no room for conjecture. That murder was committed was an undisputed fact; two people were dead, and the assailants had been arrested. They were not suspects in the murders, as they did not deny it; in fact, they openly admitted to the act but claimed that it wasn’t murder but a justified killing. So what was being debated was whether it was murder or a justified killing, as the accused were claiming.

In the first case, the accused was a man named Ramesh who had shot and killed a man named Selva. He claimed that the victim had taken advantage of his wife, Kaveri, and had lured her into having an extramarital affair with him. He claimed that he had killed Selva to protect the honour of his wife. He did admit that he had shot the man in a fit of rage when the man had openly declared, in public, to having sex with his wife. He claimed that he was filled with rage at the thought of this man defiling his wife’s honour and shaming her name. His claim that he was filled with anger and had killed Selva in a fit of rage was not debated; what was debated was his claim about protecting the name and honour of his wife.

In the second case, the accused was a woman named Chitra who had killed a man named Sanjay. The accused was admitted to a hospital, and her lawyer declined to talk to the press. The prosecution’s case was that Chitra admitted to being a call girl, or sex worker, and she claimed to have killed Sanjay because he was forcing her to accept him as her manager or pimp. Chitra did not work in a brothel but had rented a small house where she met her customers. The prosecution claimed that Sanjay had most probably begun to pester her to take on more customers, but she had refused. He had tried to force her, and she had threatened to file a police complaint against him. He had laughed in her face and told her that no cop would take the word of a prostitute. When she still refused to change her mind, he kidnapped her children from school and brought them to her home. He then threatened to kill or sell her children if she did not give him all her money and work for him as a prostitute. He had a gun in his hand, and he threatened her children with it. She persuaded him that she would do all that he asked if he allowed her children to go to their room with their nanny. He sent them to their room and had then followed her to the bedroom, where she told him the safe with all the money was hidden. She had a gun hidden in the room, and when he saw the gun, he shot her, and she shot him in self-defence. Her claim, according to the prosecution, was that she acted in self-defence to save her honour and the lives of her children.