23% increase in arrests of women in Mumbai for crime in a year

Times of India: Mumbai: Tuesday, March 04, 2014.

The number of women arrested for crime in the city has increased 23% from 2012 to 2013, according to details gleaned from the Mumbai Police in a right to information (RTI) plea. Arrests in cases of harassment or cruelty towards a relative showed a 25% spike, while there was a 130% rise in molestation-related arrests in that period. But activists said victims of these two offences were also women.

Interestingly, the Bombay high court had on February 27 questioned if a woman can be accused of outraging the modesty of another woman and sought legal provisions for it.

"As more and more women come out and report domestic violence, there will be increasing instances of female family members being arrested too. In patriarchal families, powers are not invested in males alone. Female family members internalize notions and biases, and perpetuate the system," said Sandhya Gokhale of the Forum Against Oppression of Women.

"Women are now increasingly part of the informal and formal economy and socio-political spaces. Traditionally, crimes by women were non-profit oriented, driven by emotions like anger, frustration or passion. Most crimes by women in rural and semi-urban areas are still mainly violent, in reaction to gender violence. But as women are getting into a monetized economy and are moving from unpaid work to paid work, they may be drawn to the same situations as men who commit property crimes," said Prof Vijay Raghavan, faculty, Centre for Criminology and Justice, TISS. "The profile of women offenders from urban areas will be very different from those in rural areas."

Another theory is that women still operate as accomplices. "Where a woman is booked in a top-end crime, it is usually for assisting a man or a group of men, and is involved due to her relationship with them," Raghavan said.

Among other offences which showed a spike among women are rash driving, fighting in a public place, gambling, drugs and drinking without a permit, which are categorized as "not-so-serious" by cops.

Additional police commissioner Qaiser Khalid said women are also involved in more non-cognizable offences, which may not be reflected in annual crime data maintained by the department. "There are more opportunities for conflicts among women where population density is higher. They are involved in neighbourhood disputes over water supply and access of land," said Khalid.

There's also a 12% increase in overall crime in the city from 2012 to 2013. "The alienation Mumbai is experiencing is so much that it's a natural ground for all crime. Genders are coming closer. Women feel equal to men. Everybody feels it's easy to commit an offence and get away," social psychiatrist Dr Harish Shetty said.

Joint commissioner (crime) Sadanand Date said, "We need to register crimes as they happen. Burking does not help."

RTI activist Anil Galgali, who accessed the information, said, "Women who have faced abuse or exploitation could be driven to commit crime themselves. The government and the police must lay special emphasis on prevention of crime by women as well as against female victims."