Wrong Equality: Naga women catching with men in crime

Crime is no more a bastion that has men as collateral stereotypes. If crime records from the Nagaland police are anything to consider, crimes committed by Naga women and the increasing criminality among Naga women are measuring up to that of men, reports our Correspondent Atono Tsukru

Kohima, May 19 : Crime is not a failing identified mostly with men. Every other day, reports have been emerging in the media about women being arrested for various crimes. Although on a lesser scale, women’s involvement in criminal activities is slowly on the rise in Nagaland too. While women raise voice against the increase in crime and violence against women, it is also to be noted that the fairer sex are also complicit to criminal activities in various ways.

According to data from the Superintendent of Kohima police, 126 cases of crime against women from 2004 till March 2015 were registered in Kohima district alone. Most of the cases relate to sexual assault such as rape and molestation. Others include kidnapping and murder cases.

Conversely–interestingly–an equal number, 126 cases of crime committed by women, was recorded from the period 2004 till March 2015 in Kohima district. Of the registered cases, six were related to murder; 13 cases were registered under the Arms Act; 14 cases under Nagaland Liquor Total Prohibition Act, and 39 cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.

Also, registered cases include those associated with burglary, theft, cheating/forgery; other IPC, NSR, DC Act violations; rape and abduction etc.

Could the rise in crime among women be due to society’s leniency in dealing with female offenders, or is it due to some other social and economic problems? Here are some of the opinions aired by several prominent Naga personalities.

When queried about the possible reasons for the surge in crime  by women in the recent years, social activist Niketu Iralu said ‘Everything happening in our society reveals our society’s response to the challenges that changes (have been) bringing to us as with other societies.’ The strict old ways of thinking and behavior that the society adopted were dictated by the challenges they faced in the past, he said. ‘Our traditional society (was) isolated and undisturbed for centuries…the changes in the world are now being felt.’

Communities, he said, are shaped by role models as exhibited by those in positions of power and influence. The race to survive and succeed and the brinkmanship everyday are provoking resentment in individuals, Iralu said.  

Iralu pointed out that the culture of corrupt and unprincipled ways to achieve success or solutions are bringing out the worst, in the people, especially in children who imitate. Amid modern society’s unrestrained greed and selfishness, and complete disregard for responsibility and consequences, Iralu said women have been compelled to question why they must have to follow the past’s strict codes of behavior when the men don’t show concern for the consequences of their lives in the first place.  To bring change to the society, Iralu opined that every individual, man or woman, should realize that ‘God designed human beings to live responsibly.’ 

Also, the chairperson of the Nagaland State Commission for Women, Dr Temsula Ao, opined that women ‘who are couriers of drugs’ are mostly compelled ‘due provocation and terrorizing from jobless husbands in their homes for their economical needs.’ 

To minimize or prevent women from committing crimes, she suggested counseling. It will ‘help a lot in boosting their morale and confidence, she said. However, she added, there are no such support systems available to reforming criminal women. Therefore, she said, they end up in jail. While suggesting that jails should have counseling facilities for inmates, she said that the government should establish rehabilitation centers for ‘women in conflict with law’ to help them in the long run. Dr Ao also opined that the church can help ‘in a big way’ in rehabilitation by motivating them through spiritual counseling.

According to police officer, PRO of Kohima police, Atu Zumvu, criminality among women is mainly due to the ‘economic problems.’ Smugglers, for instance, use women as ‘commission couriers,’ utilizing their services to transport contraband.  While not denying the fact that some do it at own will, Zumvu added that at the end ‘if we study the present trend of active participation of women in this trade,’ it is  mostly to make easy money for ‘their own embezzlement.’ The sad part is that most of them are elderly women; some are widows and divorcees, he added.