IMPRESSION OF THE CRIMINAL ON SOCIETY

There is no human society without crime and implied law, but the definition of the law has changed from time to time and vary from place to place. In early English society i.e. 12^th and 13^th century only acts committed against the state or religion were considered a crime. Thus, treason, rape, and blasphemy were treated as crimes whereas murder was not. The payment of compensation known as ‘bot’ used to wash away the guilt of the wrongdoer and relegated him to a position as if he had done no wrong. There were also some bot-less offenses present in the society that were heinous and were only punishable with death, mutilation, and forfeiture of property by the king. Housebreaking, harboring the outlaws, refusing to serve in the army and breach of peace, etc., were some of the early bot-less offenses which entailed compulsory punishment under the law of the state. We can define law as “laws are the rules which are formed to maintain the peace in the society and laws may vary from society to society. “These are the guidelines that are given by a government or a sovereign according to the wrong present in that society only.

   Judicial Practice and Punishments in Ancient India: - 

In India, according to Dharma Sastra,” If anyone used to breach any prevailing law, he or she was punished according to ordeals”.  There was no specific fair trial in ancient times, the king had the whole discretion to decide who was criminal and who was innocent.  At the end of the trial, if a person was guilty in the eyes of the king, he or she had to go through though the divine punishments and if they succeeded or survived those divine punishments (ordeals) they were free from every guilt they had made.

Trial by Ordeal: - The test was one of life or death, and the proof of innocence was survival. (Tula, Agni, Jala, Visa, and Kosa)

1. Balance (Tula): - The accused was twice weighed on a stone or balance. If the person weighed lighter than the previous weight, they were considered innocent; if they were heavier the second time, they were considered guilty.

2. Fire (Agni): - This is known as “Agnipariksha” as well. The test was one of life or death, and the proof of innocence was survival. There were mainly four types ordeals by fire a) Walkthrough nine circles successively with a red- hot iron - ball in hand. b) walking over the burning fire. C) lifting up a piece of iron from boiling oil. d) licking the red-hot iron bar with the tongue.

 

 

 

3. Water (Jala): - In this, the accused was submerged in a deep and rapidly flowing river or a well full of water. It was performed in a sufficient depth of water either flowing or stagnant guilt or innocence of an accused was determined on the basis of his or her survival.

4. Poison (Visa) : - This was also used as a method of investigation. The accused was made to eat the poison or take out a living black serpent from a pot and was monitored for any reactions for a certain time period. If he survived harmlessly, he was supposed to be innocent otherwise he would be deemed guilty.

5. Kosa:- This the ordeal was meant for universal application. The accused was taken to a temple. Then the priest poured water over the deity (idol) and this holy water was given to the accused of drinking. If he was guilty of false, he would at once vomit blood or some other calamity used to happen if not, he was declared innocent.

With the evolution of society, the new laws replaced or overwrite the old laws such as an old mischief which was  prevailing in the society named Sati paratha, in which the widow was forced to sit on the burial pit over the dead body of the husband, was criminalized, when society recognized it as mischief or against humanity.

 

Reasons for the crime

Every religion has made rules to decide at least some act as a sin. But is it really true that acts done by a person are morally wrong? Many jurists have given theories in regards to how a person becomes criminal and how does he look like. In my perspiration, the main reasons for crimes are: -

1. Alcohol and drugs: - Since ancient times every society has different drugs that are able to make a person high or boozed. Alcohol triggers an aggressive response in someone who ordinarily can squelch aggressive tendencies and in that aggression the person does something very wrong to the other person or towards the society. People who focus on the here and now, without thinking about the impact on the future, are more aggressive than others when they are sober, but the effect is magnified greatly when they're drunk," said Brad Bushman, lead author of the study and professor of communication and psychology at Ohio State University. The main reason for domestic violence is alcohol and drugs. The state is also responsible for these crimes as it allows these drugs to sell.

2. Hate crime: - Humans are sentimental and if someone does anything wrong with the loved ones or with any person, the accused have to face consequences. Many humans do not forgive but want the accused to be charged with hefty punishments. The hate crimes have very high intensity and gravity.

3. Habitual Offenders: - According to jurists, the habitual offenders have at least some kind of personal traits in them. They do not have any fear of the law, and knowledge and respect towards the laws of the nation. They are the liability to the society and if the court set them free, they will do more heinous offenses, for example, because of lack of pieces of evidence the court set the accused, who was rapist, free and after that, he again commits the same crime. Habitual offenders have criminal behavior to harm a person again and again without any fear of law.

4. Poverty: - Marcus Aurelius said, “Poverty is the mother of crime”. The brought-up of a child makes an impact on that child. When a child won't have anything to feed himself, he might change his personality and do any kind of work, even if it’s a crime. Higher poverty, lower the human capital. In his childhood, the poor child has always seen acts of domestic violence in his house or in the neighborhood, and these acts have a major part in the development of criminal behavior and aggression in the child as he or she grow up.

5. White-collar Crimes: - The capitalist is the silent criminals; their criminal acts leave an impact on the economic conditions of a nation. They have the power of money by which they do illegal work fearlessly, without coming out in public. They can hire criminals or can scandalize the whole economy. After the scandals, they leave the country and start living in another country where previous felony or acts do not have criminal gravity. In the future, they may face some kind of punishment according to the laws but this doesn’t stop them from committing the crime. These are crimes without victims and crimes without criminals.

6. Unemployment and Illiteracy: - Since ancient times there is an idiom ‘ bhuk admi se kuch bhi kara Sakti hai’, which means the hunger force a person to do any kind of work. Whether legal or illegal. The unemployed do any kind of job for the sake of money. An uneducated person has more criminal traits in him because they have never learned how to become social in society. They have to follow the orders of their master and they do not have the ability to decide that act is offensive or not.

7. Gender Bias: - Indian society is a mostly patriarchal society, where the head of the family is only a male (Karta). Karta has all the authority to make decisions for his family and the female members have to follow orders without question. The conditions of women are very merciful in society. As females have fewer rights, they have no say in the family and have to go through multiple crimes. The Constitution says, every gender is equal and has equal rights but the ground reality is entirely different.

8. Unsoundness: - Many offenders are clueless in regard to the reason for the crime done. According to the Indian law people who have an unsound mind do not have to face legal consequences of a committed crime as the person was clueless. This law was made for the person with the unsound mind but in real life, criminals take advantage and prove themselves of unsound minds to walk free but as they are habitual offenders, they again commit the crime.

9. Juvenile Delinquency: - In my view, juveniles are the victim of the offense done by them because they don’t have knowledge of whether the act was offensive or not. According to the law, if a juvenile indulges himself or herself in any offense, he or she is sent to a rehabilitation center, where they meet other juvenile criminals, who then brainwashed the accused and teach how to do more criminal offenses. The child from childhood if provided better teaching, the juvenile crime rate will below. In my view, Juvenile delinquency only depends on the teachings of a child.

10. Organized Crime: - These are planned crimes and the impact of these crimes are harsh. The crimes are done in such a manner that the original source is impossible to find. Most of the time, these crimes are cyber crimes such as Honey-trap offense, Bank cards related offenses.

 

Above mentioned are the few reasons behind offenses and there are many others described in the law. In my view only time, situation and teachings play a major role in developing the behavior of the criminal. The demerits of our legal system are that if a person fails to prove his innocence he is declared offender, which is not true because not every person who is accused is the offender. The situations and time periods of the act are responsible. Judiciary should keep in mind that the accused is also the human capital of a nation and they can be treated well by humanity. 

to be continued...

Written By:- Advocate S. Vashist  

Edited By:- CS Diksha Soni

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