Female Criminality in India
was returning by train after attending a sports meet. When she reached her destination, accused Bhanu Pratap Patel (husband of the accused appellant) met her at the railway station and told her that her father has asked him to pick her up from the railway station. The prosecutrix accompanied accused Bhanu Pratap Patel to his house. He committed rape on her. When commission of rape was going on, his wife, the present appellant reached there. The prosecutrix requested the appellant to save her. Instead of saving her, the appellant slapped her, closed the door of the house and left place of incident. On the basis of the complaint lodged, investigation was undertaken and charge-sheet was filed. While accused Bhanu Pratap Patel was charged for rape under IPC, the appellant was charged for commission of offences punishable under Sections 323 (punishment for causing hurt) and 376(2)(g) (punishment for committing gang rape) of IPC. The revision filed before the High Court questioned legality of the charge framed so far as the appellant is concerned, relatable to Section 376(2) (g) IPC. It was contended that a woman may not be charged for commission of offence of rape. The High Court was of the view that though a woman may not commit rape, but if a woman facilitates the act of rape, Explanation-I to Section 376(2) comes into operation and she may be prosecuted for gang rape.
The Supreme Court, apparently, had a different view. The apex court held that, after a reading of Section 375 of the IPC, rape may be committed only by man. A contention was raised by the counsel of the state that the woman may be held liable for Abetment as under section 108 of the IPC. The court on this said that such contention should have been raised in the trial court or in High Court, but it may not be done in the SC.
So we see that apart from minor offences such as theft, prostitution, drug trafficking etc., the participation of women in the scene of crime for major offences cannot be done away with. The involvement of women in crimes are also evident by the recent reported cases in the newspaper, one of them being that of Fehmida Syed, who along with her husband Hanif Syed got capital punishment for carrying out the twin blasts in 2003 at Zaveri Bazar and Gateway of India. The Syed’s are the second couple after Nalini and Murugan to get Death Sentence.
The notorious Jammu & Kashmir sex scandal, which surfaced after police discovered which showed a minor girl being sexually abused. The police arrested a local resident Sabina, who confessed sending girls to politicians, senior bureaucrats and policemen. Dubbed as the scandals kingpin, Sabina ran a brothel in Srinagar and lured young girls promising them jobs and monetary benefits.
Another shocking case was the murder of Sister Abhaya. Sister Abhaya had come to know about the illicit relations of two priests with Sister Stephy. The two priests and nun arrested for her murder, allegedly confessed to the crime after being administered truth serum by CBI Investigators. Narco analysis however, is not relied upon by courts as primary evidence. Both the priests and nun said that the narco analysis CD was edited by the CBI. There was a public outcry and the CBI officer who began the investigation put in his papers alleging pressure to close it down.
CONCLUSION
All the above cases show no particular trend, reason nor do any of the above theories sufficiently prove the causes for these crimes. The social environment contributes a lot to the making of women criminals. “If people have been abused, the chances of their taking to crime are high. But in most cases, it is more to do with the patriarchal society. Men get women into crime” says psychologist Anchal Bhagat.It appears that female offenders have lost faith in social system. Despite constitutional guarantees of equal rights and privileges, women’s fate could not be changed. Discrimination prevails from birth till last breath. Even her education, her involvement in every work equally is not enough to give any credit to her. The problem becomes manifold when despite her awareness and ability she is to obey orders of man (in form of father, brother, husband etc.) of lesser ability. Her own opinion is brutally crushed overheard and she is subjected to victimisation because she is a woman.
The best example I can think of would be of Phoolan Devi- the bandit queen turned politician who life tells us the story that when Society and law fail the people, often the victim can turn into a victimiser. Her parents called her a flower. Thats what her name Phoolan meant. How did she then turn out to be a thorn in the flesh of so many? The question takes us to the sociology of crime, especially in the Indian context. The story of Phoolan is a parable on our pathology; a case study on how our society spews up the