CRIME PREVENTION

SOCIAL EVILS Social evils like dowry system, child abuse, drug abuse are the main bane of the society. You, as a part of the society can take steps to prevent them and make the society a better place to live in. This chapter explains about the precautions you have to take to prevent such crimes. Dowry System Many NGOs have started campaigns against dowry harassment and are keeping a close watch on reported offences. Though law has provided stringent measures to curb this menace, society and you as a member of the society can do a lot to prevent offences of harassment, dowry death, etc., by taking the following steps: Start practising dowry prohibition in your family

Educate the members of your family with the provisions of law that demanding and accepting or giving dowry is an offence A woman is an important member of family and is entitled to all the rights and privileges a man enjoys Educate the members of your family and your neighbours to respect a womans rights and privileges If in any family there is a growing dispute between the in-laws and the lady, try to intervene to sort out the differences and educate them about the evils of dowry system. If they fail to listen to you, please inform the jurisdictional police and counselling centres Provide support and shelter to the lady in distress. If you cannot, please contact the Women organisations who can provide support in such cases Gather like-minded people who are fighting against this evil and gather public sympathy and support to ex-communicate the families where the evil persists In case you have any suspicion of ill treatment of a lady in any house, immediately inform the local Police. Ladies in distress, generally avoid showing their resentment to ill-treatment till it reaches a dangerous point leading to their being burnt to death Encourage women folk to raise their voice about their rights and to fight against dowry system

Child Abuse Childhood is the pearl of life, where the best qualities like honesty, truthfulness and innocence are present. What one learns in childhood shapes ones future. It is everyones duty to see that a child is prepared properly to lead a good life. Abuse of a child is not only a crime against society, but a crime

against nature. You, as a member of your society can help the child develop itself in the right direction. Childhood here refers to all children below 16 years of age. Ensure that children are given proper education and not forced to labour. Basic education is free for all children. Do not prevent your children from getting this benefit If you notice any child being forced into labour, inform the voluntary organisations and the Police, to take custody of such children and to initiate necessary action If the parents of such children force them to go for work, counsel them and educate them regarding free education and regarding voluntary organisations who look after the welfare of such children Children are forced to work in bars, tea stalls, and in some undesirable places

Modern day social evils have destroyed traditional, shared values and left people feeling a deep sense of unease. Most societies worldwide have lost their moral compass, leading to community and family breakdown. With a society blighted by greed and selfishness, family life has been destroyed, due to unwelcome changes thrust upon it. Big business, religion and the media have been blamed for the anti-social behaviour, binge-drinking, violence, gun and knife crime culture that todays youth find refuge in. Consumerism, drugs and alcohol, immigration and responses to it, crime and violence, poverty and inequality are some of the social evils that make everyone uneasy. There is concern about society having become more individualistic, greedy and selfish, seemingly at a cost to family life and our sense of community. In addition, greed is increasing the growing gulf between the rich and the poor, including concern that we no longer share a set of common values, having lost our moral compass. Many of todays social evils are inter-linked as a decline of community has led to increasing isolation and individualism, as relationships get eclipsed with an excessive desire for consumer goods. Misuse of drugs and alcohol has also been identified as both a cause and consequence of many other social problems, including family breakdown and poverty. Bad parenting is also to be blamed for teenagers drifting into unhealthy lifestyles with poor moral values, with everything based around money and owning things. Decline of the family, poor parenting was felt to cause many other social problems, leaving young people particularly vulnerable. A fear of local residents that they would lose out to immigrants has also led to negative attitudes and a lack of support for immigrants has led to an intolerant and inclusive society. In addition, child abuse and exploitation are some particularly damaging evils. Young people are seen as perpetrators rather than the victims of social evils. There is a

growing gulf between the old and the young leading to a lack of role models for the young. A decline in religion as the ethical foundation for moral behaviour has led many to identify religion as a social evil, as it is deemed to cause confusion and conflict in the mind. While that as may be, religion has also helped many to keep their balance amongst the social evils that permeate present day society.
People are concerned about the way our society has become more individualistic, greedy and selfish, seemingly at a cost to our sense of community," the Scotsman quoted the report as saying. "Connected to all of these issues was the perception that we no longer share a set of common values and that we have lost our 'moral compass'," it added. The study revealed that many evils were inter-linked. The misuse of drugs and alcohol was identified as both a cause and consequence of many other social problems, such as family breakdown and poverty. The research also brought to the fore conflicting responses over the role of family, with criticism for "bad parents" and sympathy for those doing their best in difficult circumstances. People had different views on the importance of having both a mother and a father. So far as the issue of immigration is concerned, again there were a range of responses, with some respondents feeling that pressure was being put on resources and others calling for tolerance. The study also suggested that people considered the Government to be "out of touch with the real issues people face" and "ineffective at tackling social problems". The respondents also criticised the media for propagating negative and damaging attitudes, and described religion as a "cause of conflict and confusion".

"People are concerned about the way our society has become more individualistic, greedy and selfish, seemingly at a cost to our sense of community."

Their responses also suggested that big businesses had been "fuelling inequality and consumerism". "This consultation will help the Foundation to further Joseph Rowntree's mission: to search, demonstrate and influence by undertaking programmes of work on key social policy issues, and through our practical housing and care work," said Julia Unwin, the director of the JRF. "As well as helping to inform our own work, we hope that the views expressed will influence the work of other organisations seeking to address social ills," Unwin added

Bihari school girls are fighting against social evils at the grassroots levels. These girls

studying in government middle schools have created an unique example in the society by preventing child marriages in their villages in recent months. These girls have formed a small group, "Meena Manch", at the village level to check social evils such as child marriage. Only couple of months back, girls have stopped child marriages taking place in their villages. Despite opposition of elders in the family and old village residents, these girls have succeeded in stopping child marriages which is still rampant in the society, said an HRD official. "Despite stringent laws, child marriages are still taking place in largescale at the villages. The village-level community will have to raise voice against such evils," said a social worker.

HRD principal secretary Anjani K Singh told TOI: "We have received such information about stopping of a couple of such child marriages by these girls. Only recently, Meena Manch girls have prevented such marriages at Desri block in Vaishali district. Similarly, we have such reports from Rohtas district also." These girls have also been trained in creating awareness about the social evils, including child marriages, witchcraft, superstition, drug abuse, alcoholism and tobacco products. Meena Manch is a success story which has now become inspiration for others, admits an official. One such success story of a poor girl from Bihar who has become a role model for thousands of poverty-stricken children in the country, has already figured in National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) textbooks. Anita Kushwaha adopted bee-keeping for a better living and was awarded by the Unicef for her success in the profession. Recently, the NCERT described her as a role model and included her saga in chapter five of a Class IV text book on environmental studies, "Looking Around". Anita, the very girl from a backward family from remote Bochaha village in Bihars Muzaffarpur district, took up bee-keeping when she found that she could earn more from it with little investment. As many as 50,000 girl students studying in government schools and who are living in bordering districts of Bihar would be given training in Madhubani paintings, sikki and sujni work, besides their normal studies. These girls are also being trained in handicraft work to attain self-sufficiency. Similarly, girls from minority communities would also be given skill upgradation training in applique work in joint collaboration with National Open School (NOS). Apart from training, a certificate would also be given to these girls, said the HRD principal secretary. Of late, the government schools have introduced incentives to encourage disadvantaged families to send their daughters to school, such as free uniforms, textbooks, schoolbags, cycles and mid-day meals. With the new initiatives taken by the government in the fields of literacy, girls are now going to school in Bihar in great numbers than ever before. The female literacy rate has increased from 22 per cent in 1991 to 34 per cent in 2001, compared to the male literacy rate of 60 per cent (2001).
The readymade route to curbing social evils is to enact laws and provide for appropriate punishment. Thus, sati, child marriage, dowry, untouchability, communalism, perpetuation of caste and community and corruption, to cite a few examples, have all been brought within the ambit of special laws at various

times. But in the experience of official agencies as well as social activists, a legal-cum-punitive approach has been found to have only a limited impact. The greatest difficulty in combating social biases and taboos arises from their being deeply rooted in the culture going back centuries and having become an inextricable part of the psyche of the population. Many of those practising them are prepared to brave the consequences of violation of whatever laws there may be, to keep faith, as they view it, with mandatory ancestral tenets. The other problem with relying on laws is the general atmosphere of laxity in enforcement. The police machinery, having more compelling duties to perform relating to maintenance of law and order and investigation of heinous crimes, is unable to devote the same kind of attention to social offences. (Indeed, some have mooted the idea of establishing a separate enforcement squad for social offences, without mixing them up with the usual police functions.) No wonder, then, many of these evils refuse to die down, and reports still keep appearing on the persistence of sati, dowry and so on. Civil society organisations have, in their own way, been fighting these evils by generating public pressure and organising resistance movements. Here again, their attempts, instead of being sustained, have been mostly feeble and fragmented, besides being hamstrung by paucity of resources and manpower. Is it possible to think of an innovative and powerful weapon which the perpetrators of the evils would be unable to resist? Yes, mounting an in-house attack is an idea whose time has come. There are already sporadic examples of successful deployment of the weapon and all that is needed is to make its application widespread and purposeful. For instance, we come across media stories of courageous brides walking out of marriage halls to protest dowry demands. There are also instances of women filing criminal cases against their husbands and in-laws, and bringing them to justice.
Wrath of kith and kin

Likewise, some candidates falling within the reserved quotas for SCs/STs are known to have boldly told the interviewing boards to consider them as general candidates since they wanted to stand on their own legs without any artificial props. I know of some aspirants for jobs not disclosing their castes/communities in the application forms. (It is not common knowledge that there is a Government Order giving the freedom to job-seekers not to reveal their castes/communities, if they so wish.)

Take corruption. After all, the cruel bloodsucker of society also has a father, son, wife, brother, sister, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, relative or friend, and all of them are sure to know that he is given to fleecing people. Do they not, in a sense, become witting accomplices to his barbaric crime if they partake of the fruits of his corruption? To avoid being tainted themselves, why not they rise in revolt and make it clear to the greedy grabber that if he does not desist from taking bribes, they would themselves have him prosecuted, or at the very least, they would have no truck with him? Supposing each evil-doer is made to face the wrath of his own kith and kin in this way, would it not make a conspicuous difference?
Even today visitors to that house are grieved. There in a room is a 24-year-old woman. She will not talk to anyone. She is a mental patient. At intervals she will burst into laughter. No one knows the reason why.The entire family is in sorrow, always. Two grown-up younger sisters are also in deep grief .No one comes forward to marry them. Those who come do not return. The only brother spends his time aimlessly. The poor mother, overwhelmed with pain, lives like a recluse with no contact even with the neighbours. What happened to that family? The head of the family died two years ago after a long period of mental instability and liver disease as the result of his alcoholism. The permanent tragedy that struck that family was the mental illness of the eldest daughter. How did it happen? She was a student of engineering. A beautiful girl born in a respectable family. A favourite of her companions. The beauty queen in the college. She was travelling one day by bus. At the bus stop her eyes fell on a sad sight. An alcoholic was lying on his back on the road. His vomit was all over his blood-smeared body ! His reckless movements at times caused him to be half naked; at other times fully so. People stood ridiculing and laughing. Others condemned his weakness!"Is not that your father?" jeered the girl's companions. She could not stand it and fell unconscious. Kind arms carried her home. From that day onwards she did not utter a word. The sight of her father lying naked on the street must have been constantly in her mind. She would cry or shriek at intervals. Her world shrank into her little room. There it was darkness always! No one would open the door. Her future as bleak and dark as that room! No one let her out even to see the body of her dead father. Liquor and drugs promise man one thing; give him quite another. In spite of seeing so many fall into this trap, several proceed along the same path; that is the peculiarity of alcoholics. Knowing that liquor is poison, people drink. Knowingly, therefore, they commit suicide, and at times, even murder. Either they are deceiving themselves or are deceived by others. Take care that you do not fall into that trap. Come forward to save those who have fallen into that trap.

What is alcohol? What is alcoholism?

These are terrible phenomena whose meaning becomes clear only when it is a little too late. Alcohol is poison. Alcohol is sickness. Alcohol is despair. Alcohol is death. Alcohol is fire that destroys the family. Unfortunately no one realises this in the beginning. No one admits it, perhaps. You too may not acknowledge it or believe it. The power of alcohol has seduced many; intoxicated them ; made several crazy and mad. It has led numerous people to immorality, suicide, crime. It gives momentary satisfaction, momentary oblivion, promises temporary consolation and plunges you into everlasting grief; causes relentless tears; casts you into mental anguish and unbearable guilt feelings... But the alcoholic does not at first realise all this; or admit it; that is the specialty of the demon of alcoholism, the secret of its success.

Some Statistics Annually lakhs of people die of alcoholism. Unfortunately, of late, they include women. About two and a half times of the usual, untimely and unhappy deaths are caused by alcoholism. About 6070% social evils are related to alcoholism. Go to quarrelling families. Go to civil courts trying cases. Go to streets where there is commotion. Go to prisons. Go to centres where immorality is rampant. Go to places where murders take place. Go to the terrorist - infested underworld. Go to secret hideouts that abound in sex rackets. Go to hotels, the refuge for suicide cases. Go to night clubs frequented by young boys and girls. Go to halls that screen blue films. In all these places we can see alcohol and drugs are responsible for the evils, in one way or another. Do you also want to go the same way? Promise of paradise. Bestowal of hell. Some are addicted to alcohol and drugs in order to be cured of diseases! To alleviate pain! To forget grief! To acquire energy! To put aside family problems! To counteract financial loss! To be immersed in worldly pleasures without guilt feelings! To be counted as honourable in society! To boost their business concerns! To pose as a hero among friends ! To attract the attention of the other sex! To be considered as progressive! To have one's way by threatening others! To set aside the troubles of wife and children! The number of husbands who take to drinking is not small. The number of college girls and house wives who frequent clubs and follow suit, in the name of equality and status, is on the increase. It is pitiful to see that college girls who, unknown to the parents or hostel wardens, travel far in order to enjoy a drinking spree with men, are swelling in number. Like flies that are attracted to the fire but are eventually quenched by it, so many lives are destroyed through the mirage of happiness promised by drinking and drugs. They seek paradise but end up in hell!

Causes! Persuasion! Unbelievable are the reasons for drinking. The bad example of parents and elder brothers is a strong temptation.Their secret bouts of drinking are emulated secretly by the children- sip by sip though it be in the beginning. At times it is the influence of companions given to drinking, drug addiction and smoking. Exploitation by wicked people can also lead others to these evils. There are hosts of other reasons too.

Loss of everything Those who drink lose everything today or tomorrow. Forever. Wealth, self-respect, happiness, satisfaction, peace, family felicity, purity of life, reputation, a bright future-they fall into all kinds of troubles and pitfalls unawares. The secret ridicule of companions; the rough treatment by family members; frequent prick of conscience; mental anguish of all the family members; complaints from relatives; aversion, fear of progeny; pain and suffering everywhere, indifference and incurable diseases of the alcoholic.

Some queries Were not some alcoholics good writers? Good artists? Good athletes? Wealthy men? Successful business men? Accomplished artistes? But that was only one aspect of their character. Does anyone publicise the other ? Those who see only the rosy side of the life of such people, who begin with sleeping pills, grow in alcoholism, plunge into drug addiction and become a prey to an untimely death, are being deceived. Shocking suicides, gruesome murders, shameful incidents of rapes , tragic financial losses , unbelievable treachery, desperate cases of divorce, collapsing marital relationship, deserted children, snapping social links-are not alcohol and drugs behind all these disasters?

How does alcohol destroy man? In a few moments after a drink one fifth of it is dissolved in the stomach. The intoxicant spreads from the abdomen and small intestines into the liver and then to the heart. The heart pumps it quickly through the blood vessels into every cell of the body. Sexual organs become active. Man becomes blind with lust. The activities of the brain become unbalanced.

The liver is affected The alcohol that goes directly into the stomach easily spreads throughout the body-mostly into the brain, liver, pancreas and the mind. When it cannot dissolve in the stomach, when there has been an overdose, it is vomited out. 20% of the alcohol intake in given out through urine, exhalation, saliva and sweat. The rest has to be oxidized, digested by the liver. When the liver has to do extra work it becomes weakened. When this activity is repeated, the liver is damaged; becomes clotted and inactive. The next stage is cirrhosis. The blood vessels of the stomach burst and there is bleeding. Diseases likes billiousness and damage of the spleen are the result . The eyes, lips and cheeks lose their rosy tint and become pale. Weakness, a pitiful look are signs of this stage.

Home-made liquor more dangerous In the country side spurious liquor is distilled by adding ammonium sulphate, copper sulphate, copper coins, battery cells, decayed fruits, stale meat and, besides, rats, frogs, lizards, cockroaches, millipedes and fowl dirt in order to sell cheap and produce a "kick" easily. Such poisonous stuff, when consumed produce illness very soon and instant death.

Brain damage Alcoholic drinks and drugs first attack the brain which is the nerve centre of the nervous system. The chief section of the brain that controls the movements of the cerebellum, the spine,the head, medulla oblongata, heart, lungs and the walls of the veins becomes diseased. As soon as the nervous system of the alcoholic becomes unbalanced, his sexual appetite is activated, his lustful desires go beyond control. It becomes impossible for him to think, analyze, observe, control, concentrate, remember or discern properly.As a result he looks at his wife and daughter in the same manner and attempts sex play and even assaults. It is tragic to think of the blow in the dark that a daughter or maid - servant or sister may receive! What is before his eyes becomes invisible and he is easily subjected to hallucination which, when it becomes frequent,makes the alcoholic to live in a world of make -believe. What is hidden in the subconscious is spoken out loudly. Varied mannerisms like smiling, bursts of laughter, shouting, depression, despair and anger take control of him. He repeats senseless and imprudent acts. Just think of the pitiable state of the parents, wife and children who are obliged to witness these antics. It is impossible to describe the sorrowful stories about those who create a scene lying naked on the streets, wallowing in their own vomit. Alcoholics often fall into the trap of their exploiters. Their wealth and property is misappropriated. They are enslaved by prostitutes. Women who drink easily, become inmates of brothels. Very soon all is lost and destroyed.

Student life is destroyed It begins with the desire to experience the thrill that drinks and drugs give but becomes gradually an uncontrollable passion. For students and young people, who become victims of this evil, the consequences are many-regular headaches (specially in the morning), stomach trouble, anxiety and depression, lack of concentration and responsibility, guilt feeling, disassociated speech, eagerness to avoid others' company, excessive interest in ex-curricular activities, unnecessary argumentation, illicit relationships, loss of energy because of evil action; ennui, weariness, fluctuation in blood pressure, excessive swelling, fluctuation in the heart beat, diarrhoea, constipation, uncontrollable thirst, vomiting, anger, loss of eyesight, trembling, purposeless walking, dazed look-these symptoms make life unbearable for them and those connected with them. So many students who might have had a bright future are destroyed . How many are the pitfalls they fall into! The number of parents who see the deterioration of their children in regard to family ties is on the increase.

Sex life deviates The evils of alcohol do not stop here. Theft, violence, forgery, treachery, gambling, flouting of rules, lack of responsibility towards wife,children, students, subordinates, culpable indifference, sexual aberrations, use of weapons, murder, suicide - these are the avenues towards which he hastens. Unhealthy, illicit sexual relations, lustful desires! At the same time sexual impotence (because of the decrease of sexual hormones in the blood), weakening of the sexual and reproductive organs, the unbalanced activity of the hypothalamus and pituitary glands of the brain

that direct the activity of the sexual glands and organs and decrease in sexual secretions ,are the result of alcoholism. Destruction of one's capacity for official responsibilities is another of the disastrous consequences of alcoholism. Lack of interest in one's duty, favouring the sycophants and bribery, cause the employer to take punitive measures. Those who lose their jobs in this manner are numerous. They spend their time cursing their circumstances and employers.

Destruction of family life The one who drinks habitually begins to suspect his wife. He strongly suspects that she is like other women who indulge in drunken revelries with him and are game for men. He takes for granted that she does not express any warm feelings of love for him because she has secret liaisons. However much he may be advised and given clear proof of her innocence, he cannot truly love his wife or have faith in her or treat her in a human way. The children are punished cruelly. The alcoholic tries to exaggerate the slightest fault and lack of respect of the wife and children and justifies himself. The marital relationship is thus tampered with. She is discontented. The distance between them grows. The man tries to establish his dominion over his wife while she and the children become estranged from him and hate and fear him. On his arrival, all talk and laughter and play cease. The children run away and hide themselves. Family felicity is no more there. The husband's revengeful suspicion and cruelty may even result in the murder of his wife and children. Several wives leave home seeking peace. Some become mentally deranged and quite a few turn to other men and may even become prostitutes. Children become revengeful, social miscreants. Instances of such children turning out to be juvenile delinquents are not rare. Generations are destroyed.

A recent visit to one of the Northern Disitricts of Kerala, revealed a peculiar trend happening there. Almost all the families there had at least one son-in-law from outside the state and that too a non-Malayalee. Intrigued by this fast spreading trend, I talked to some of the elders and some friends. The revelation was that, two social aspects of these areas were responsible for this trend catching up fast-one was the increasing demands for dowry from prospective grooms in the state and their families and the second was the lack of suitable grooms, per se, due to a higher female-male ratio.

Having already heard about the social evil of Dowry spreading fast among the Kerala society I was not much surprised. But the fact that most of the grooms were coming from two or three northern states, with Haryana leading the list, baffled me. How come these states, notorious for Dowry deaths, were producing so many grooms for the hapless Kerala brides, that too without any dowry demand? Further,how come these grooms came to know about these girls in remote villages in northern Kerala? To be very honest, I did

not find any special physical features in these girls that could attract these hulks.

Further probing revelade a few things.These grooms, especially those from Haryana, were hunting for their wives in Kerala becauseof an acute shortage of girls in their states. They were introduced to these villages by the women who had already got married to these northerners. The working knowledge of Hindi for these girls was an added attraction. I had great relief knowing that these poor village girls were finding life partners and settling down happily. But later enquiries revealed a disturbing news that most of these girls were getting married , not to one single man, but to a family of brothers! May be Haryana being the homeland of the Pandavas did not find anything odd in this arrangement. But I was only thinking what these girls from Kerala would be feeling to have to share the brothers. Yet,what really shockedme was the real reason why these grooms flocked to other parts in search of girls. No, it was not for any nefarious motive. The reason was the abysmally low female to male sex -ratio in these states. A recent news about a study conducted by an NGO, Action Aid and the International Development Research Centre were shocking in the least, frightening to boot.
The Report revealed that in the last 20 years ending 2007, five North Indian States, including Haryana and Punjab, have lost 1 crore unborn Girl children, most of them due to alleged female feticides.! Survival rate of the girl child is reportedly very very low. Parts of the society considers the girl child as an economic and a social burden. Sex determination tests are banned in India, yet they continue uniterrupted across the country, thanks to the greedy touts in the medical profession.Sex-selective abortions and neglect are on the rise and continue unchecked. In four of the five states sex ratio of girls to boys has declined drastically.

In Punjab 300 girls survive for every 1000 boys among upper caste families. In 3 other states less than 800 girls survive for every 1000 boys!

Aren't these revelations appalling? Can we lay any claim on social advancement and economic development, if we have permitted 1 crore grils to be killed either in their mothers' wombs or outside, in just 5 states, at least three of which are highly developed and pregressive? I shudder to thinkof the actual position if a country-wide survey is undertaken. Much as we are concerned about child labour and exploitation of children, are we not equally reponsible to see that this sexselctive murder is punished and condemned? Hope our parliamentarians will wake upto this before sitting in judgement on the Women's Reservation bill.