This is a simple paper. It is kept very simple so that every person might be able to understand the message I wish to convey to public at large. This paper will deal with the aspects of ‘Criminal Law’, how crime takes birth, its reasons and the role of society in crimes. ‘Social control’, what is it, how things function in a society, the evolution of a society and crimes and the connection of both. There will be all sorts of crimes that the paper shall be dealing but mainly, the focus is on ‘Crime against Women’ and the social control in connection to it. The main aim of the paper is to diagnose all the problems and solutions to crime against women and what are the reasons behind the increasing rate of crime in spite of the fact that we have criminal law, constitutional law, and social control also. The motive is to come to a particular conclusion after the details that we will go through.
‘Crime against women’, in this light we will see what all kinds of crimes are there against women, what are the safeguards they have from the law books and most importantly from the society. Today we know that when we open a newspaper, it is flooded with ‘crimes against women’, murder, rape, trafficking, kidnapping, etc. what is going wrong with the nation even when we are getting educated? So, what do education means in real sense? Is it just the mastery in reading or writing books? Is it getting as many degrees as possible? Is it just confined till we get jobs? Or is it something much more than that! In every two minute there arise cases of rape with a woman. What is going wrong when we have a technological world today where everything is on demand, everything just a click away, every facility with us, why can’t this problem be solved then? And not just in India but the problem is all over the world. What role does a society play? Gender inequality lies, male domination lies. Are they not society created things. And in this, society means society of both males and females. Even there is a hand of females in the crime that a female faces. So, what actually needs to be done is a matter to think about urgently! Well, we all blame the system, police, ministers etc, but what about us? We ignore the fact that we are also wrong somewhere and here lies the root. The root cause requires treatment or needs to be thrown for the permanent solution of the problem. Why any crimes do takes birth? We all know the answer. So, all such things, the problems, the solutions are the aim and motive of this paper. We need to deal in details.
Criminal law lays down various offences and also lays down punishment for those various offences. So, we can find the crimes and their punishments in one code itself. Criminal law of India mentions various crimes like murder, rape, trafficking, criminal conspiracy, theft, robbery, defamation, etc. some are done by individuals whereas some are done in groups. And their punishments are also given for them. We have the Indian Penal Code (IPC) which deals with criminal law in India. But, the question is that why we need a criminal law? To control crimes? Yes may be. But how much are we successful in doing this? After 70 years of independence also, have we seen any control in crimes? Well, to imagine an ideal country where no crime takes place which means where no wrong happens, no rape, no theft, no murder does not seem possible. But why? For this, we should not forget SOCIAL CONTROL, which also have a very big role. Social control is the control from society apart from the controls which the criminal law provides. And a society plays a major role! It comes first and then comes criminal law to control any kind of misconduct.
Now, let’s just see the present picture of the country. Almost daily we come to know via news channels or newspapers about the crimes going on around us. Almost 90% of the news are about crimes! There are murders going on even on the slightest fights over any issue, people try to kidnap, they abuse others, there is so much of ANGER INSIDE a person that nobody is able to control over their anger at all! People lack in self control!! And crimes against women can make anybody speechless! They have touched heights!! Murders, rapes, gang rapes, domestic violence, trafficking, sexual harassment, physical torture, mental torture, and what not! The word females or a woman is seen as a decorated body who is made to please others! They can’t work, they can’t go out of the four walls of their home or wherever they are, they are not allowed to speak, still they are not allowed to go to schools and get education. Yes! It still happens! And leave the rest, they are killed even today (after 70 years of independence) inside the WOMB as soon as the family comes to know that it is a “GIRL”. What is this! Is this FREEDOM? Is this or what we have laws with us? Females are seen as just as a materialistic thing! It may sound pinching to some of us, may be because truth pinches most of the time. And to avoid this pain, we avoid the truth or often choose to ignore it. But truth remains the same today and shall remain FOREVER. We might not accept it today, but tomorrow or day after tomorrow when any such thing will happen with us or our loved ones, that day we’ll accept these pinching truths!
Now, let us come to the time of pre independence India. Before 1947, India was all under the control of Britishers. Indians were treated as slaves, they were hurt, made to do work forcefully (without their wills) etc. but then when all limits got crossed and things started touching heights, silence broke! From the crowd stood many freedom fighters, who stood against the wrong, who raised their voice! And after a long battle, we got freedom from the british rule.
Now, every man was free. Free to do things on their own, nobody was there to impose any kind of restrictions upon them or nobody made them work forcefully. So, we became a democratic country, we adopted our constitution three years after independence and the Constitution of India was framed well keeping in mind the diverse nature of the country. Dr.B.R. Ambedkar was the chairman of the drafting committee, he very wisely used his knowledge and experience and studied various constitutions before framing India’s. And from every constitution took the good things, also, looking at the conditions of the minor sections, the women and children’s position, he made special provision which gives protection to them. This protection has been very well kept in the ‘Fundamental Rights’ part of the constitution. So, nobody can in any case take away these fundamental or basic rights from a person. The right to equality, freedom of speech and expression, no discrimination, abolition of untouchability, all these are mentioned in this chapter. And, weaker sections are also given protection under which women and children also come.
So, every man got freedom, but in real sense also we can see that man only got freedom, not females! Females are not completely free even today! And if we say that yes they are free as, they go to school, they get educated, they go out o their homes then we are wrong. A little physical freedom cannot hide the truth o the mental freedom which women still don’t have. What about that! For this little physical freedom also, we should be thankful to the constitution makers who protected our rights and to the freedom fighters as well. But, even today girls, if sent to school are made to sit at home after their 8th or 10th / 12th class, most of them get married and even I they go out of house, they can’t stay out after 6pm! Why? Because the society is not safe!! So this means that the problem is in the society. This implies towards each one of us itself who make any society. Even if they get late by 5 minutes, their close ones get worried, in those 5 minutes their mind becomes full of various disturbing thoughts which might be 500 types of thoughts in just 5 minutes. They ask 50 times that where were you, how you got late, is this freedom? Boys on the other hand are not questioned about anything, they can roam anywhere even late at night, midnight also, they can walk on road freely, they can speak whatever they wish to speak whereas girls get to listen from others that ‘is this how you speak? Girls should not speak like this, girls should understand the matter, girls should adjust when any fight goes on between a man and a women, girls should keep the two families together, girls should not speak up against any wrong by her husband or brother because they are MAN’. Is this freedom for girls? So, apart from the crime against a woman we see that their lies a lot off male domination as well! Girls were and are slaves still!!! This is absolutely no freedom! To know and achieve freedom, we must know what it means to be free. So, for all this who is responsible? The criminal law? Is it too old or is it not ok or do the problem lies somewhere else? Well, we all know what the root cause is. The root cause is here in our minds. So, ‘SOCIAL CONTROL’ is here what comes into picture.
When a child takes birth, nobody can tell whether it is a girl or a boy until or unless they don’t see the biologically distinctive organs. And as soon as we see it is a girl, in India most of the family members starts giving taunt to her mother that “you have got a girl!”, a boy is “ALWAYS” welcomed with LOVE. But not a girl always. She is seen and taken as a burden, and sometimes is seen as an imposed responsibility upon the family. Yes, this happens even today!
So, it all starts from the family itself. As the girl starts growing, imposition and discrimination starts, they are told not to argue or speak more, to stay in home, they are told to keep everyone happy always. When a boy cries it is said that “why are you crying like girls, don’t behave like girls, haath mei chudiyan pehan le”, if he loves the color pink, he is told that “arey ladki hai kya? Mard ban! Ladkon ki tarah raha kar, be strong, never cry because boys don’t cry, be bold, speak loudly and boldly”. When a girl asks to go to shop, she is sent with her little brother, why? Because he is a boy! So, not just girls, but in boys also, these things are inserted in their minds. Boys’ emotions are destroyed by the time they attain a majority age. And till then ALMOST every girl is treated very differently. As soon as they step out o their home, a huge lot of terror revolves around them! They don’t feel safe or satisfied until or unless they are not back home. And nowadays leave outside home, even inside home, their own family members commit crime against women! And this covers girls inside a mother’s womb to an old aged lady. Nobody is left out. There have been shameful cases of a father raping his daughter, brothers their sister, etc. so where is a girl free? Cases of 4 year old girls being raped comes up! This is a shame for each one of us! Because, we are the ones who made girls weaker, and we only killed boy’s emotions. And a person committing rape or trafficking or any such crime is definitely not a man with emotions, his “man” thing comes up and this happened.
Girls are treated as animals! In most of the houses, after a girl gets married, she faces domestic violence, gets beaten, is hurt, and is tortured in all possible ways! She is forced to stay quite because she is a girl. Such girl can only be a living ‘body’ who is completely dead from within, roaming around us! And just look around, you’ll get to hear any such instance from any girl sitting next to you! Every girl has some or the other story where they’ll tell you that they wish that god might not make them a girl again in their next birth. They look down upon themselves! They feel ashamed of being a girl! Because they feel as I they are a burden upon their parents and a rope remains around their neck which makes them feel chocked. What could be more hurting than this feeling when enters in someone’s mind, where he/she has to look down upon himself/herself as a whole! And all this they have to bear quietly because you are a GIRL at the end of the day!
When in a family there arises issues between husband and wife, the wife is told by everyone to d o as the husband says and to be calm, to make thing good, to handle everything, where is her life? Nowhere! She keeps fast on karwachauth even if her husband does no good to her. Why? Because she is a female and it is her duty to be so! She has to pray for the long life off her husband! Why doesn’t husband do this?
In the movies, advertisements, item songs are made to make movie more entertaining, sometimes, various obscene things can also be seen. In shopping malls advertisements, posters, we see pictures of females! Why? Are they only or this? So this was about when a girl grows up, how her life is, and in most of the cases girls are not allowed to come in this world only! They are killed inside their mother’s womb, because of the act that they are girls. Female feticide still takes place! And if she comes to this world, then the society kills her! It is a very serious matter about which we all need to think. Well, so, these crimes are connected to society. Society’s control over themselves has a big meaning and a great importance. We all need not blame others for everything. We need to look at ourselves.
Every women faces this from their beloved that look there become like her or like that another one over there, whereas women are from their very childhood made of such nature that they accept their beloved as it is. So, she feels she is not beautiful, she gets injured from inside. I she is not beautiful she is made to listen that what sort of a girl are you? If she likes cars, racings, thrills, she is asked whether she possess any o the girl’s qualities or not. Is being a good person not enough? Is having a beautiful heart not enough? Is having our own interest wrong in anyway?
We need to see everyone with equality. Even boys should be treated equally and should be provided with the same etiquettes that a girl is given THROUGHOUT her life. And I she goes wrong then 100 of people stand against it. Yes we accept the fact that physically girls may be weak in a few cases, that does not mean that anybody can stand above them! Or that their freedom be snatched. Or everyone there should be a limit and that is very well known to us. I even then somebody crosses it, there is criminal law, which lays punishment for it.
If a girl who is a rape victim survives, then society kills it! Society is of such a mindset who tries to find faults in the girl only. Most of them think that the girl might be wrong, she should not have gone out at such a time, she should have…would have…etc. this goes on! People don’t think of supporting the girl at such a moment. Instead makes her life miserable (directly or indirectly). At times most of us even I see a crime happening around us, don’t speak. Why? Are there too many wrong doers? Are they ruling us? No. we should not just be mute spectators, and even if we don’t speak anything, we should not stand with the wrong, which is usually done in a society. A person who knows what is right and what is wrong, still ignores to accept the truth and starts walking on the path where the rest 50 million are walking! ‘log kya khenge’ is the main issue within us! We need to think about it that if tomorrow something happens with us, these people will not do anything, only we can. When each one of us will change, only then each one of us will become independent and free. And only then, criminal law will work effectively. For a few criminals, criminal law is enough, but for a VIRUS in the society, in each one of our minds, the little crimes we commit everyday cannot ever be controlled by even the best criminal law. Until or unless there comes a self control in us and then when a family will change, a society will change, a state will change, a country will change and the WORLD will also DEFINITELY change.
90% of the terrorist are males, most of thieves that we see are males, most off the kidnappers are also males, and most of the criminals are males. Why? Well because the society makes them. There are more females in a school working as school teacher, and males who have been working in factories, in various other places. Females’ wears are such that they don’t have pockets! Suit, saree, they don’t have pockets. Pockets are for keeping money generally. So don’t women work? They have been working since humans developed. And even if they earn today, they don’t have pockets. They are not given comfortable clothes as the males are in.
Well, there is no rocket science behind this issue that we have raised. All we need to do is to become free from our minds. Each individual requires respect and a courage to stand against wrong. If this will happen in us, then there will be no need or reserving busses, metro coaches or women separately. Where one man will be wrong, a woman should feel that the rest 10 present there would protect her instead of just walking away. So, where there will be social control, only then any other law will function at its best.
I feel very sad to remember of an instance where I had an argument with my friend who is a boy. He said that 95% of the boys are like this only –same. They talk about girls when they meet, talking about a girl’s body who is standing right in front of them is very common. He felt proud to say so. He was completely wrong! And so are others who think that they should behave like a man, talk like a man. This is the first thought where any crime against women arises. So whether literate or illiterate, almost every man has the same thought. So will laws written in books do anything? There has been cases against every sort of man, from bus drivers to a senior government officer!, from a stranger to a father! So, to function society people need to change, because until or unless the roots will not be treated, the same will keep going, the virus will be in the whole plant and one day the plant will definitely die! Humans are killing humans, so only we can solve the problem. ‘Moral values’ need to be given importance for all and should not be confined to girls alone. If things do not change, slowly slowly I can imagine the formation of a separate country for females like the buses, trains are made as of now. Suicide rate will also go high, no marriage would be successful. This day is not far. This truth pinches, but truth will remain as it is. Things gone we cannot change. But let us not forget the present and future are in our hands. We are searching for the solution in law books. We are relying upon the criminal law only. But it is high time to wake up and make positive changes in us. The day boys will also start respecting every girl whether a stranger or his own sister or mother, that day things will change. So it is time to unite.
There had been so many brutal crimes. The Nirbhaya case, we are all aware about it. Before this case buses were seen as a safe means of transport. But after this, girls rarely dare to step in any bus if it have less passengers. Very recently we came to know about a case where the female was made to run naked with her husband on her back like a horse. So this shows the morals that we have forgotten completely. She was treated badly apart from this. There had been cases where a girl was rapped by her father. What impression it leaves on society at large! Well so definitely there is not a problem in the law books. But first and foremost in our minds. After the Nirbhaya case people thought that because of the changes brought in the system, there will be low crime rate. But, it is even shocking to see that the crime rates have gone high! They are going higher and higher. And we must not at all forget that crime includes even mental torture. Which females use to face a lot!! And it is not that males are free. They are also bound. Because females will not be independent, then they will depend upon males. And so their responsibility will increase. They will have to walk with them to any place, they will have to drop them to any place, they will have to be with them always, they will have to run to help them if they will be at trouble anywhere. So if all of us actually wants to be free, we need to change our own selves. We need to respect each other. Moral values are required to be taught to every child. Because a person can become anything an engineer, doctor, lawyer, etc anything. But to be a good person is what must be taught to each and every child. Only then we can hope to get a safe future for the whole world. Or else if we are killing the creator of every man (woman), then we are killing each one of us. We are destroying the world.
By: Akanksha Singh and Apeksha Singh
