TARGETING IN THE INDIAN CRIMINAL SYSTEM
People living in a society must live in peace and harmony and also must be given the power to do anything they wish. This liberty that is given to them is conditional. If they do anything illegal or unlawful, they are held accountable for it. There arises the necessity of a good criminal judicial system.The main aim of the criminal system is to serve justice by means of a fair trial. It is to find the offenders and punish them in accordance with law and to protect the rights of the victims. The maxim ubi jus ibi remedium- where there is a right, there is a remedy is the sole principle by which the judicial system works.Fair trial must be conducted and must be ensured by following all the principles of justice and must be in accordance with law. Living in the 21st century, women not being given importance and value is still the number one social issue. Patriarchy, male chauvinism, Misogyny are all the different terms that are used nowadays to show the dislike or oppression towards women within the society itself. Oppression is not something that was just started one day, it is something that women all over the world have faced since time immemorial in different forms and from different people. In India, male domination with a complementary suppression of women has been continuing since pre-historic times:
Every two seconds, nine babies are born and about half of them are girls. Women contribute to about half the population, yet there still exists the problem of discrimination, disabilities, inequalities, and non-recognition of their rights in our male-dominated societ
Due to the rise of science and technology, there has been an increase in the rate of literacy. The growing awareness of women’s status has led to the measure of protection of women’s rights. These days, the idea that “women’s rights are human rights” seems obvious, but it was not until 1993, when the UN held a conference on human rights in Vienna, that the member states began to talk about abuses against women as “human rights” violations. The criminalization of women in India is a complex issue that stems from a patriarchal culture that devalues and oppresses women. Despite significant progress in women’s rights and empowerment in recent years, women in India continue to face discrimination and marginalization, and are often treated as second-class citizens.Criminalisation of women occurs where abortion is illegal or legal only in limited circumstances, again including in cases of rape. In Colombia, for example,abortion is prohibited in all circumstances and women can be imprisoned for up to four and a half years for having abortions even in cases of rape or when their lives were at risk. Only narrow exceptions allow judges to waive penal sentences. Physical and sexual violence against women is legitimised precisely by the criminal narrative constructed against the women community, itself an outcome of procedural violence. In fact, these processes are indistinct and inseparable. Women are collectively punished by the upper castes and state alike for purported offence or harm by any one of them. This has extended to settlement burnings, mob lynchings and sexual assault. The violence women face is legitimised by the narrative of their criminality and used to justify their extrajudicial punishment. The specter of criminality looming over the communities is a breeding ground for the dominance of the state. The criminal justice system initiated by the police has germinated, nourished and allowed for the erasure of gendered violence against women by sustaining the myth of their criminality.
Author: S.Roshni, 5th year BA.LLB Kerala Law Academy Law College,Trivandrum