Crimes In India
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Crimes in India

Senior Legal Associate

India faces a challenge to eradicate all kinds of crimes. Now days, the crime rate is increasing and everyday a new crime comes up.

Crimes against women: Earlier, many cases were not registered with the police due to the social stigma attached to rape and molestation cases but now that there has been a dramatic increase in the number of reported crimes against women.

Sexual harassment: Eve teasing has now become source of sexual harassment or molestation of women by men. Many activists blame the rising incidents of sexual harassment against women on the influence of Western culture. In 1987, the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act was passed to prohibit indecent representation of women through publications, writings and paintings or in any other manner.

Dowry: The Government of India passed the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 to make the dowry demands in wedding arrangements illegal. However, it is one of the reasons for murders and suicides by women. According to these rules, a signed list of presents given at the time of the marriage to the bride and the bridegroom should be maintained. The list should contain a brief description of each present, its approximate value, the name of whoever has given the present and his/her relationship to the person. However, such rules are hardly enforced. India is witnessing lot of bride burning cases.

Child marriage: It has been traditionally prevalent in India especially in regions of Rajasthan, Gujarat etc. Although child marriage was outlawed in 1860, it is still a common practice.

Female foeticides and Infanticides: All medical tests that can be used to determine the sex of the child have been banned in India. Female infanticide is still prevalent in some rural areas. The sex ratio is the poorest in Punjab and Haryana.

Domestic violence: It is practiced more commonly in lower Socio-Economic Classes. It is seen in the form of physical abuse.

Trafficking: The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act was passed in 1956. However, many such cases of young girls and women have been reported. These women are either forced into prostitution or domestic work. Now, mostly every day, we find same sort of news. Young girls are abducted, raped, sold. It has become a risk letting the girls play outside home.

Arms trafficking: Majority of the illegal small arms make its way into the states of Bihar., U.P., M.P. and Orissa. Large amount of illegal small arms are manufactured in various illegal arms factories in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Chinese pistols are in demand in the illegal small arms market in India because they are easily available and cheaper.

Cyber crimes: Cases of hacking, spamming, spoofing, cyber stalking and email fraud are rampant in India. The Information Technology Act 2000 was passed by the Parliament in May 2000. It aimed to curb cyber crimes and provide a legal framework for e-commerce and e-governance transactions.

Corruption and police misconduct: Corruption has become widespread in India taking various forms namely bribes, evasion of tax and embezzlement. It is prevalent within every section and every level of the society.

Crimes against Foreigners: Traveling alone in remote areas after dark is of particular risk to foreigners. In 2000, two German trekkers were shot in Himachal Pradesh. A few weeks later, two Spanish tourists were killed in Himachal Pradesh by robbers. Many foreign tourists are victims of violent crime in Kolkata.

Scam Incidents: Scams usually target younger foreign tourists and suggest them that money can be made by privately transporting gems or gold or by taking delivery abroad of expensive carpets avoiding customs duties. Such incidents pull the traveler over the course of several days and begin with a new scam artist who offers to show the foreign traveler the sights.

Taxi scam: There are also taxi scams present in India, whereby a foreign traveler, who is not aware of the locations around Indian airports, is taken for a ride round the whole airport and charged for full-fare taxi ride while the terminal is only few hundred yards away.

Rape of foreigners: Incidents of rape of foreign tourists at popular tourist spots is increasing in India. A Japanese woman was raped in Pushkar in 2006 and in June 2007, a South Korean was raped near Manali.

We can’t think that only a form of crime is there. It is very important now to analyze root cause of every crime and then work upon it. Eliminating criminals wont help but eliminating crime will.

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