Crime and humanity

Sheel

“Demonetisation: is keeping cash in hand a crime now? It’s becoming increasingly hard to tell.”* Such a headline calls attention to itself not only because of the fact of demonetisation and its after-effects, but because it also connects having cash with crime. The idea of holding one’s own earnings in cash certainly does not qualify as a criminal act. We can also with equal certainty say that some actions are unambiguously criminal, for instance thievery and murder. This project is aimed at clarifying the idea of crime and will hopefully provide a starting point for a meaningful discussion on crime at the middle and high school level. Teachers of various subjects need to work together on this, and ideally, two consecutive periods should be assigned for the project each day over a week, with some sort of an activity, say a play by the children at the end of it.

Day 1. Clarifying the notion of crime
This could be taken up in either the language classroom or the history classroom. Get your students to recall the story of Robin Hood. Or remember a film in which the leading actor engages in great violence. Notice how we are glad that Robin Hood robs the rich, and that the hero fights and sometimes even kills the villain and his henchmates? We feel this way because we believe that they are on the side of justice. They attempt to correct the wrongs in society, and we take the moral high ground with them, even though their actions are actually against the law, and any court of law would certainly see them as criminals!

Let’s look at another scenario: thousands of people were thrown into jail during the struggle for Indian independence. Tell the students about the lives and actions of three prominent personalities, for instance Mohandas Gandhi, Bhagat Singh, and Subhash Chandra Bose. Focusing on their actions, get your students to discuss what they were found guilty of, and whether these people could be called criminals. You could ask specific questions such as: Can passive resistance like Gandhi’s be called a crime? Is making bombs and throwing them at people a crime? Can raising an army to fight against the government be treated as a crime? Dividing the blackboard into two columns, note on one side the actions that the students believe can be considered as crimes and on the other, note those that cannot be so labelled. What kinds of crime exist?

Activity 1: List and explain words like abduction, arson, assault, battery, burglary, fraud, hacking, heist, hijack, homicide, smuggling, sexual assault, and so on. Using a dictionary, ask the children to find out the meanings of these words.

Get the children to understand that there is a difference in actions considered immoral and those considered illegal. Religious and cultural norms have a great role to play in such matters – in fact, it is in such norms that the seeds of identification of wrongdoing lie. Norms are beliefs or rules laid down to make life easier for the entire community, and they curtail the freedom of individuals in order to ensure that a society functions smoothly. Going against the norm is verboten, and this is where morality too comes into play – socially unacceptable actions may be labelled as ‘sin’.

But this was in the days when the words of the religious or the political head was taken as law. In contemporary times, there is a legal system in place in most countries of the world, and any action that violates the law in any way is illegal. Take for instance the wastage of food that might happen at a grand wedding – this could be viewed as immoral, but not illegal. On the other hand, utilising the electrical or water connections which the government provides without having it metered is not immoral, but it is illegal.

There is also a difference between something that is illegal and something that is a crime. Eating nonvegetarian food is not illegal, but eating the flesh of a protected species is illegal, and killing an animal of such a species is not just illegal, but a crime. (You could bring in here the case in which actor Salman Khan and others were arrested for shooting a black buck.) Selling vegetables on the footpath is an illegal act but not a crime, whereas burning buses is both illegal and criminal. Crimes are far more serious than ordinary illegal actions. Crime is a phenomenon within society and involves acts of commission as well as omission.

Activity 2: For this activity, you will need to bring in various newspapers from the past week or fortnight. Introduce terms such as petty crime, white collar crime, war crime, cyber crime, and other similar categorizations of crime, and help children understand the difference between them. Distributing the newspapers, get them to cut out news items or articles that relate to crime. These can be categorized and pasted on charts or in a scrap book to be displayed on the last day.

Day 2: Crime as an enigma
The literature classroom is the perfect place to take up this part of the project. Bring a set of summaries of novels or plays or even films to class. You must include some that might fall into the category of psychological studies, and others that are detective novels or mysteries that are resolved at the end. You could choose things like Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment, a Sherlock Holmes (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle) or a Feluda (Satyajit Ray) novel, Norman Mckinnell’s The Bishop’s Candlesticks, films like Kahani and so on. Make sure you have enough variety to go around: a story can be shared by no more than four students.

Begin the session by getting the students to name some books they have read or films they have seen in which crime plays an important part. From comic books through adventure stories, detective stories and thrillers to graphic novels, a number of titles in which robberies, killings and other crimes figure in a big way will come up. Discuss with the children whether they find these books or films more intriguing and interesting than those in which no crimes take place – for of course there are many in which crime does not figure. Do stories in which crime plays a part fascinate us? And if they do, why? That is perhaps the enigma and paradox of crime in fiction and film – it fills our need to explore the imagination and inventiveness of the human mind, and gives voyeuristic pleasure even as it ensures that justice finally prevails and the erring persons are brought to book.

Through a discussion of such books and films, get them to speak about the various aspects of crime. Noting that it is people who engage in crime, ask what the students think drives people to crime. What is it that people might be looking for, which leads them into crime? Is it possible to preclude crime? What means do detectives or the police use to solve crimes? Use the opportunity to introduce crimerelated vocabulary to the students – nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs, there are numerous words and phrases you can introduce here.

Activity 3: Apart from the words listed in the previous section, here is a list that you could introduce before giving the children a writing task: commit, motive, victim, suspect, clues, inference, crime scene, deduction, warrant, arrest, charge, trial, jury, verdict, acquit, convict, guilty, sentence, justice, remand, rehabilitate, probation, deterrent, juvenile delinquency

Activity 4: There are many collocations as well around the idea of crime which would be useful to write or report crime: one good resource is ieltsmaterial.com/useful-collocations-for-ielts-writingtask-2-topic-crime. You could get the children to identify and highlight such collocations from the newspaper reports culled the previous day.

Activity 5: Divide the children into groups of four or five, and share the summaries that you have brought into class. Each group must have one story, one that is different from every other group (make enough copies of each story beforehand). The children need to read the story and as a group, they must make note of the basic plot, the characters, the sequence of events and the final resolution. The task is to change the format in which these stories are presented: can the psychological studies be turned into mysteries and vice versa? They could work on it as a group over two or three days, and present their stories on the last day. They could even attempt to create a short dramatic presentation based on the story.

Activity 6: Crime fiction is a genre of writing that is now coming into its own in India. Some recent novels are listed at http://www.firstpost.com/living/avery-pukka-murder-indian-historical-crime- fictionhas-come-of-age-these-sleuths-prove-3087548.html. Sharing this information with children, get them to make a list of their favourite crime authors, or even a TV series, and what they find interesting about it.

Day 3: Reading the signs Science teachers – physics, chemistry or biology – can now take up the project and help children understand how science figures in crime, and in the investigation of crime. Many crimes are reported every day, as the newspaper cuttings show. Ask the children: How do the police go about investigating the crimes and catching the culprits? From the ensuing discussion, which may be based on what the children have seen in movies or on TV, or read in books, you will find this typical scenario:
The case is documented and a detailed record is created. The police visit the crime scene, take photos and explore the place, asking questions of the people who are connected with the case. Witnesses are questioned, and the police may even try to lift finger prints off objects. They look for evidence, i.e., information or objects that can lead to solving the crime. For instance, they mark the position in which the furniture was located at the crime scene so as to be able to compare it to the normal position, and from it deduce what could have caused it to move. They collect genetic material or trace chemicals to dental history or fingerprints, using which they can figure out a timeline of action and recreate the sequence of events or identify the culprits. They even study the habits of people associated with the place and the persons associated with the case. This helps them identify suspects, and explore leads that can help them to solve the crime.

The police use scientific methods and follow logical procedures: whodunits are a classic example of the use of logic to solve a crime. But in many cases, particularly cases of murder, forensic science has an important role in the examination of evidence. The long running TV serial CID features such a forensic lab devoted to examining evidence to present in court. Various activities are conducted here, from matching fingerprints to identifying people from their DNA, or by various kinds of analysis. If your classroom is internet enabled, you could have children watch this excellent short video on forensic science in the classroom: https://www.youtube.com/watchv=_58XsN6XJWQ&list=PL89QP7ZwONKmVLlYwPyf6aI wIrQjbnqX&index=8.

Activity 7: Using the story that they have begun the previous day, the children could write out a scenario in which the evidence is examined by the investigators, and inferences made. Within this, they could also include examinations involving the forensic lab.

Day 4: The cost of crime This part of the project can be taken up in the math classroom, or in the economics classroom. You could begin by referring the children back to the newspaper reports: what exactly do they say about the crimes covered? The wh- questions are sure to be answered; in addition, there would in most cases also be “how much” or “how many” component that considers the costs. In a theft case, for instance, the value of the goods stolen would be estimated; in case of an attack like in Mumbai, the number of lives lost would be presented. Clearly, there is a cost to any crime – both “human cost” and “economic cost”. The victims and their families as well as the police and other personnel pay the human cost – in many cases their lives are lost, as in Mumbai. Then there is a financial cost that people have to bear – the losses that individuals as well as businesses and individuals, both in the short term as well as the long term. For instance, insurance companies alone had to shell out over 500 crores in covering damages in Mumbai.

Activity 8: Discuss: One kind of criminal activity involves dishonest schemes and deals, or scams. There have been many scams in India, which have lost the government and the citizens a lot of money, while creating wealth for the people who have siphoned off money. How do scamsters accumulate money? What is such money called? How is this money used – where does it all go?

Activity 9: Here is a statistical report on violent crimes in India from 2015. What can one learn from it? Get children to draw inferences from the report.

Figures at a glance – 2015

Violent crimes	Cases reported	% to total IPC crimes	Rate of crime	Charge-sheeting rate	Conviction rate
Murder	32127	1.1	2.6	86.2	39.5
Attempt to commit murder	46471	1.6	3.7	93.8	26.9
Culpable homicide not amounting to murder	3176	0.1	0.3	88.7	39.6
Attempt to commit culpable homicide	6118	0.2	0.5	95.8	25.2
rape	34651	1.2	5.7	96.1	29.4
Attempt to commit rape	4437	0.2	0.7	91.7	19.8
Kidnapping and abduction		2.8	6.6	68.0	23.9
Dacoity	3972	0.1	0.3	79.3	21.0
Making preparation and assembly for committing dacoity	3163	0.1	0.3	99.0	14.3
Robbery	36188	1.2	2.9	64.3	31.6
Riots	65255	2.2	5.2	92.0	17.6
Arson	9710	0.3	0.8	66.4	16.2
Dowry deaths	7634	0.3	1.3	93.7	34.7
Total violent crimes	335901	11.4	26.7	83.6	26.7

Crimes are recorded and the statistical information gathered is collated and analyzed by criminal investigation agencies: in India, such data is collated by the National Crime Record Bureau under the Ministry of Home Affairs. Based on the data, we can understand the general trends in crime, and engage in serious study such as comparing the crime rate over time, or with different countries, the percentage of cases solved or unsolved, and so on.

Day 5: Wiping out crime
This part of the project can be taken up in the civics or the moral science classroom. Engage the students in a discussion by making a statement like “Imagine being told that you are a criminal by birth. How would it impact you?” After you receive some answers, you could tell them how the British had passed the Criminal Tribes Act in 1871, in which more than 150 tribes in India were identified as people who were in the habit of committing crimes, and made a living doing so. These people were all branded as criminals, and for decades all the adult males of these populations had to report every day to the police – such was the suspicion they were viewed with. Although these tribes were denotifed in the 1950s, their persecution continues even today, not overtly as before, but covertly as people continue to perceive many of these tribes people, who are economically backward, with great misgiving.

This incident took place in February 1998. Budhan Sabar was a tribal belonging to the Kheria Sabar community of West Bengal. Like many other tribals, he was detained by the police on a suspicion. The next day, the police handed his dead body from the Purulia jail to his family saying he had committed suicide. Mahasweta Devi, a world-famous writer from Bengal, insisted on a post-mortem, and it was found that he had been beaten to death. Thereafter, she took the case to the Calcutta High Court. The court found that Budhan had been so severely beaten by the police that he died, and ordered the State Government to pay a compensation to his wife and parents. The judgment also required that the jail superintendent of Purulia and the office incharge of Burrabazar police station be punished.

Activity 10: Bring enough copies of this article to class: https://thewire.in/63312/tribes-markalternative-independence/. Read it aloud and discuss with the children what independence means to the people of these tribes. Discuss the phrase “crimes against humanity” – what does it mean? Does it apply in this case? What would it take for such discrimination to be wiped out?

The discussion above will logically lead into a discussion of the notion of humanity as well as human rights and values. Tell the children that everyone is entitled to a life of dignity, and social divisions based on caste or creed, or religion, sex, and so on should not come in the way of such a life. Crucially, this applies even to wrongdoers and the police whose duty it is to apprehend them: a humane justice and penal system is required. The jails and the treatment meted out to prisoners by the police that we see in films creates the impression that prisoners are caged animals and the police is a brutal force, and while this is often true, there is another side to the story, which is best exemplified in the Halden prison. This Norwegian prison is built keeping in mind that prisoners need to be rehabilitated, and its design simulates life outside the prison. There are no security devices like electric or barbed fence, towers and snipers here; instead, a concrete- and-steel wall and safety glass is used to enclose the prisoners within the premises. It is a place where prisoners can live a near-normal life, and re learn to be contributing members of society. If possible, play this slideshow of the prison in class: http://content.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1989083,00.html. Then discuss with them the pros and cons of treating prisoners no different from the people outside prisons.

Conclusion
At the end of the project, set up a display that features the newspaper reports that children have collected, the stories that they have written, talk about the statistics on crime for 2015, and even play the slide show of the Halden Prison. If you have a six-day week, you can use the last day for this activity; if not, use the afternoon of the last day to enable the children to showcase what they have learned.

Juvenile crimes in India

Crime by minors (youngsters under 18) in India is nothing new. In India, the first piece of legislation dealing with children in conflict with law or committing crime was the Apprentices Act, 1850, followed in 1897 by the Reformatory Schools Act. Currently, the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 is in force. Under this Act, youngsters in the age group of 16-18 are increasingly involved in serious and heinous crimes such as murder and gang rape (the government of India categorizes offences as petty, serious and heinous). The National Crime Records Bureau says that, in 2013, of the 43,506 crimes registered against juvenile offenders, 28,830 had been committed by those between the ages of 16 to 18.

We have a special Juvenile Justice Board to look into crime by minors, its purpose being sociolegal rehabilitation and reformation rather than punishment. Now, with heinous crimes on the increase, the Juvenile Justice Board will have psychologists and social experts to assess if the said crime was committed by that person as a ‘child’ or as an ‘adult’, and persons over 16 may be tried as adults.

Pointing out that a justice system based on retribution and punishment does not help in the long term, Namit K Srivastava says that it is the responsibility of society to provide a proper and healthy childhood to the child and ensure that they do not suffer social and economic discrimination and deprivation, which are factors that push people into crime.

Crime and technology

Improvements in technology and new inventions are often used by criminals as aids in their activities. In a TED talk, Marc Goodman, a police officer who has worked in more than 70 countries says, “The criminal underground is highly innovative and often acts as an early adopter of emerging technologies.” Pointing out that criminals were using mobile technologies long before they came into common usage, he warns that advances in computing, robotics, artificial intelligence, genetics, neuroscience and biotechnology can potentially be similarly used.

In fact, this was what happened during the 2008 terrorist assault on Mumbai, India. The terrorists were armed not just with AK-47s, explosives and hand grenades, but with smartphones, and used satellite imagery and night-vision goggles to locate and kill additional victims. They even had an operations centre in Pakistan, where global news broadcasts were monitored in real time, as also online reporting and social media, and they used the public’s photos, videos and social network updates to detect and kill more people. They even used search engines to identify individual hostages, and determined who should be killed based on their backgrounds. These innovations gave them a situational awareness and tactical advantage over the police and the government.

Criminals are using newer forms of technology as well: robots have been used narcotics dealers Mexico to push into the US.

If criminals can use technology, so can the common man and the police, as is portrayed in the film A Wednesday. At the same time, the film also highlights the inadequacy of resources that hamper the police – this was also clear in the Mumbai attack, when the lack of technologically advanced weapons in the hands of the police cost the public many lives. This is not to say that crime fighters do not make use of technology, but only that it takes time to equip them properly. Technological tools used to fight crime vary from automated license plate recognition cameras to brain
fingerprinting, tamper-proofing, alarm systems and so on: new devices are constantly being invented for location, identification and surveillance.

However, the key to preventing crime lies not in such tracking or safety measures, but in focusing on principles: we need to build ethical societies where crime is unthinkable.

The author is a writer and researcher. She can be reached at sheel.sheel@gmail.com.