Female Criminality in India
theory
In light of this demographic shift in incarcerated populations, and the failure of traditional criminology to account for women’s crime, some criminologists have begun taking steps to fill the void in the criminological literature that addresses female criminality. The feminist pathways research is explicit in its pursuit of life events that lead/force/nudge women into crime. Again, even this approach has its own drawbacks. This approach is often ethnographic and uses retrospective data (i.e., interviews with incarcerated women asking them how they ended up in jail) to develop an understanding of the key transitions in women’s lives that place them in jeopardy of entering the criminal justice system.
Although it may be true that society has changed since the days of Lombroso and Ferrero, past theories appear to remain within much of today’s criminal justice system. Women have so many choices of which they didn’t before. It may appear naive to assume that women and crime may be explained by any one theory. Any crime for that matter, whether male or female, may not be explained by any one theory. It is an established and non-arguable fact that males and females differ biologically and sociological influences, such as gender-specific role-playing appears to continue within most families. Its a matter of proportion not difference. According to Edwards (1984), the enemy is within every woman, but is not her reproductive biology; rather it is the habit regarding it into which she has been led by centuries of male domination
This unequal position of women in society due to social oppression and economic dependency on men and the state needs to be addressed. Offences by women remain sexualised and pathologised. In most ways, crimes women commit are considered to be final outward manifestations of an inner medical imbalance or social instability. Their punishment appears to be aimed principally at treatment and reconciliation.
Many argue, the main culprit for aggression as seen in many men is testosterone. This hormone appears responsible for much of the male crime, even in todays society of increased knowledge on the subject. In contrast, extensive research over the past twenty-five years done on the testosterone/aggression link focusing on prenatal testosterone predisposing boys to be rougher than girls, concluded it was very difficult to show any connection between testosterone and aggressive behaviour. Cross-cultural studies of ninety-five societies revealed 47% of them were free of rape while at least thirty-three societies were free of war and interpersonal violence was extremely rare. Based on these studies, it may be evident to suggest that sociological factors and environmental influences appear to have greater credibility in explaining criminal behaviour, whether male or female.
In is evident from the numerous specific studies already published that no single theory or type of explanation is adequate for the wide variety of behaviour variously called ‘crime’. Despite many theories have been offered but no view point can sufficiently satisfy the quest for the area. The involvement of women in terrorist activities, smuggling, violence, communal riots etc. witnessed the adoption of untraditional trends of crime by them, defying all available theories and trends of crime, because most of these crimes are problems of structural immorality and ethnic affinity. It therefore, becomes the need of the day to study the problem from fresh angle in order to understand the phenomenon in its totality- recent trends, etiology, personality traits and its impact on society.
CASE LAWS
State CBI/ SIT v. Nalini & Others
On the night of 21 May 1991 a diabolic crime was committed. It stunned the whole nation. Rajiv Gandhi, former Prime Minister of India, was assassinated by a human bomb in Tamilnadu. Assasin Dhanu, an LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam) activist, who detonated the belt bomb concealed under her waist and Haribabu, a photographer (and also a conspirator) engaged to take photographs of the horrific sight, also died in the blast. A camera was found intact on his body at the scene of crime. The film in the camera when developed led to unfolding of the dastardly attacks committed by the accused and others. A charge of conspiracy for offences under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, 1987; Indian Penal Code,1860; Explosive substances Act 1908; Arms Act 1959; Passport Act 1967; Foreigners Act 1946; Indian wireless Telegraphy Act 1933; was laid against 41 persons, 12 of whom were already dead and 3 absconded. All were awarded death sentence on the charge of conspiracy to murder under S120B read with S302 IPC and various other minor offences.
Nalini