an article on various aspects of crime in india

1. CRIMINAL LAW IN INDIA
As defined by Black’s Law Dictionary “A crime is an act committed or omitted, in violation of a public law, either forbidding or commanding it; a breach or violation of some public right or duty due to a whole community, considered as a community.” The Indian Penal Code is the main criminal code of India. It is a comprehensive code, intended to cover all substantive aspects of criminal law. The Indian Penal Code of 1860, sub-divided into twenty three chapters, comprises five hundred and eleven sections. The Code starts with an introduction, provides explanations and exceptions used in it, and covers a wide range of offences. The IPC covers a wide range of offences including abetment, conspiracy, offences against the state, offences against religion, offences against human body which include murder, hurt, wrongful confinement, assault, kidnapping, rape and other sexual offences, offences against property which include theft, extortion, dacoity, misappropriation of property, breach of trust, cheating, criminal tresspass. The IPC also includes defamation, criminal intimidation and attempts to commit crimes.
CAUSES OF CRIME:
• One of the causes of crime are biological or genetic factors. Besides differences were found in the nervous system and brain damage.
• There is a theory that the individual who has not had a healthy relationship with their parents has not been able to develop self-control.
• It is said that we are is the result of our past, and that therefore the delinquent, it is because in the past has been successful doing it.
• Another theory says that is the result of a severance of ties with society through a neglect, school failure, ...
• Another theory that society provides emphasizes the success we aspire to instill a lot, but then not given the means to achieve it, causing frustration. It is an attempt to adapt frustrated.
• There are subcultures in which the most admired is the one who commits more crimes.
• It appears that even individual offender catalog makes that individual assumes the role.

2. FACTORS:
•Sex: There are more male offenders than female offenders.
•Skills: There are studies supporting the relationship between low IQ and crime.
•Hyperkinetic syndrome (hyperactivity) Children very impulsive and non-reflective are more likely to commit crime.
•Egocentrism: They have great difficulty in visualizing the consequences of their actions (lack of empathy).
•Social class: the crime is associated with marginal classes.
•Family: parents is associated with little moral support coerce and punish a lot. The breakdown
between parents and children early is a good predictor of crime.
CLASS OF OFFENDERS:
• Maladjusted immatures psychologically fragile young, lazy and undisciplined dreamers who do not get to sleep, normally unattainable, angry with the world.
• No socialized psychopath: He has not developed the self, has not assimilated norms or values. They are "moral imbeciles" by the lack of ethical criteria. Because they have no remorse, do not learn from the mistakes, do not mature.
• Neurotic upset: Individual loner who blames and suffers from depression too. Robbery, rape ...
They suffer from depression (something that would happen to the psychopath).
• Subcultural socialized: Has accepted norms of their subculture, but it turns out that these run counter to the general culture.
COMPONENTS OF CRIME
INTENT
Criminal intent must be formed before the act, and it must unite with the act. It need not exist for any given length of time before the act; the intent and the act can be as instantaneous as simultaneous or successive thoughts.
Proof of general criminal intent is required for the conviction of most crimes. The intent element is usually fulfilled if the defendant was generally aware that he or she was very likely committing a crime. This means that the prosecution need not prove that the defendant was aware of all of the elements constituting the crime. For example, in a prosecution for the

3. possession of more than a certain amount of a controlled substance, it is not necessary to prove that the defendant knew the precise quantity. Other examples of general-intent crimes are Battery, rape, Kidnapping, and False Imprisonment.
Some crimes require a Specific Intent. Where specific intent is an element of a crime, it must be proved by the prosecution as an independent fact. For example, Robbery is the taking of property from another's presence by force or threat of force. The intent element is fulfilled only by evidence showing that the defendant specifically intended to steal the property. Unlike general intent, specific intent may not be inferred from the commission of the unlawful act. Examples of specific-intent crimes are solicitation, attempt, conspiracy, first-degree premeditated murder, assault, Larceny, robbery, burglary, forgery, false pretense, and Embezzlement.
MALICE
Malice is a state of mind that compels a person to deliberately cause unjustifiable injury to another person. At Common Law, murder was the unlawful killing of one human being by another with malice aforethought, or a predetermination to kill without legal justification or excuse. Most jurisdictions have omitted malice from statutes, in favor of less-nebulous terms to describe intent, such as purpose and knowing.
MOTIVES
Motives are the causes or reasons that induce a person to form the intent to commit a crime. They are not the same as intent. Rather, they explains why the person acted to violate the law. For example, knowledge that one will receive insurance funds upon the death of another may be a motive for murder, and sudden financial difficulty may be motive for embezzlement or burglary.
Proof of a motive is not required for the conviction of a crime. The existence of a motive is immaterial to the matter of guilt when that guilt is clearly established. However, when guilt is not clearly established, the presence of a motive might help to establish it. If a prosecution is based entirely on Circumstantial Evidence, the presence of a motive might be persuasive in establishing guilt; likewise, the absence of a motive might support a finding of innocence.

4. DEFENSES
DEFENSES NEGATING CRIMINAL
Capacity To be held responsible for a crime, a person must understand the nature and consequences of his or her unlawful conduct. Under certain circumstances, a person who commits a crime lacks the legal capacity to be held responsible for the act.
Examples of legal incapacity are infancy, incompetence, and intoxication.
EXCULPATORY DEFENSES
Exculpatory defenses are factors that excuse a competent person from liability for a criminal act. Duress is an exculpatory defense. One who commits a crime as a result of the pressure of an unlawful threat of harm from another person is under duress and may be excused from criminal liability.
ENTRAPMENT
Entrapment is another exculpatory defense to criminal charges. Entrapment exists if a law enforcement officer induces a person to commit a crime, for the purpose of instituting a criminal prosecution against that person. It is not available if law enforcement merely provides material for the crime.
MISTAKES OF LAW
Mistakes of law or fact are seldom successful defenses. Generally, a Mistake of Law is applicable only if the criminal statute was not published or made reasonably available prior to the act; the accused reasonably relied on the contrary teaching of another statute or judicial decision; or, in some jurisdictions, the accused reasonably relied on contrary official advice or a contrary official interpretation. A Mistake of Fact may excuse a defendant if the mistake shows that the defendant lacked the state of mind required for the crime. For example, in a specific- intent crime such as embezzlement, evidence that the accused was unaware of transfers into his or her own bank account would negate the specific criminal intent required for conviction.

5. JUSTIFICATION
Justification defenses include necessity, Self-Defense, defense of others, and defense of property. If a person acts to protect the life or health of another in a reasonable manner and with no other reasonable choice, that person may invoke the defense of necessity. According to the Model Penal Code, self-defense and defense of others are permissible when it reasonably appears necessary that force is required to defend against an aggressor's imminent use of unlawful force. Nondeadly force may be used in order to retain property, and Deadly Force may be used only to prevent serious bodily harm.
CRIME TODAY With the rapid urbanization and development of big cities and towns, the graph of crimes is also on the increase. This phenomenal rise in offences and crime in cities is a matter of great concern and alarm to all of us. There are robberies, murders, rapes and what not. The frequent and repeated thefts, burglaries, robberies, murders, killings, rapes, shoplifting, pick pocketing, drug- abuse, illegal trafficking, smuggling, theft of vehicles etc., have made the common citizens to have sleepless nights and restless days. They feel very insecure and vulnerable in the presence of anti-social and evil elements. The criminals have been operating in an organised way and sometimes even have nationwide and international connections and links. The political links of the criminals have complicated the matters. Kidnappers, rapists, murderers, smugglers and such other criminals are indulging in their crimes under the wings and protection of the political leaders. Steps should be taken to curb and eliminate this dangerous trend. The masses should rise to fight political patronage of criminals. Corrupt politicians should be denied party tickets and party positions. Overall safety takes into consideration only few forms of crimes and also their severity and hence finding an alert factor to indicate the danger levels in the state. Alert factor num= {MURDER} * 5 + {RAPE} * 5 + {Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Act} * 3 + {DOWRY DEATHS} * 3; This safety factor is measured in terms of only severe life threatening crimes and on analysis from the geo Choropleth chart reveals that Uttar Pradesh as the most unsafe region, followed by Madhya Pradesh and Bihar.

6. From all the statistics that are available it is evident that crimes in India are on the rise and Indians are clearly losing their battle against crime. What then is the solution? The solution lies in changing the fabric of the society and the government. The government needs to step up the battle against Criminalization. More money needs to be poured into education and towards creating more opportunities for the poor and the young. And most of all, education and responsibility need to be drilled into the new generation by the parent.
ISHAAN P. SAVLA SYBLS, LLB A043.