Maha tops list of convicted women in India, arrested figure stands at nearly 1 lakh
Maharashtra though wealthiest state by GDP in the country its women did not fare much well. And no wonder, the state tops the list of convicted women criminals in the nation with 95,174 arrested in the last three years, according to the data of the National Crime Record (NCRB).
Close on the heels of Maharashtra is Andhra Pradesh with 64,916 arrests and Madhya Pradesh arrested 56,492 women in the last three years.
According to law enforcement agencies in Mumbai, women criminals are a major cause of concern. As per their data, the number of women criminals arrested in Mumbai has increased by 23.1 per cent (with 3,834 arrests) in 2014 compared to 3,115 during 2015. Comparatively, the number of men criminals arrested during 2014 has increased only by 22.9 per cent, the NCRB data said.
Special Inspector General of Police, Maharashtra (Prisons) Rajvardhan Sinha said at least 40 per cent women imprisoned in Mumbai jails are booked for non-violent crimes.
A senior official of Byculla jail said non-violent crimes like drug peddling, theft, shoplifting and smuggling among others do not require weapons like guns and muscle power to commit the offence, hence, women easily indulge in non-violent crimes.
In some cases of non-violent crimes, women are ring leaders. Recently, Mumbai police arrested six members of a family from Goregaon (East) for selling different types of drugs. And the ring leader of this gang was 47year-old Geeta Parmar, who had been selling drugs to small time actors and college goers in Malad and Goregaon areas.
Last month, Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) officials under the supervision of Deputy Commissioner of Police Shivdeep Lande arrested four drug peddlers including two women who have been in the drug business for decades and seized 23kg of marijuana (ganja) worth Rs. 2.30 lakh from their possession.
During investigation, it was revealed that drug is the family business of one of these two women.
“It is easy for them conceal drugs as male policemen cannot frisk women suspects. For this, we need to have women police official all the time,” said a senior official of Mumbai zone Narcotics Control Bureau.
The women criminals have also made their foray into smuggling. The masterminds, most of whom are seatled abroad, are using woman as carriers of contraband. Quite often the Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) officials detain women smugglers at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport and during their personal search it was found that women smugglers conceal the consignments in their body.
“There is steep rise of 30 per cent in women smugglers this year as compared to 2016,” said Pradnyasheel Jumle, deputy commissioner of customs, AIU.
Jumle said most of these women smugglers are either widows or reeling under huge financial crunch. “Such women smugglers travel with their family to avoid being suspected by our department,” the officer said.
In a new instance of crime by women at Mumbai airport, they have been found travelling with their families and steal luggage from carousels at the airport. The authorities are studying CCTV footages at the airport to identify the gang of women involved in bag lifting cases. No arrest has been made in this case, so far.