REFORMATION OF CRIMINALS

According to a report by the Indian Express some time back 6.53 lakhs police cases were registered in Kerala in 2017. This must be the highest number in India at that time. As per the State Crime Records Bureau upto the third quarter of 2019 a total of 10,516 cases of atrocities against women were reported in our state of which 1,537 were rapes. Over 8100 prisinors are in Kerala jails now. These things do not sound good for the state of Kerala.

Thus goes the crime in our state. Some are caught and a few are punished. Some are imprisoned for a few months and others for a few years. Finally all come out of the prison gate. But almost all are coming out as harder criminals. They all develop criminal relations with all co-prisinors and continue to commit more and more crimes.

There is no result oriented efforts made by the government to reform the criminals. There was a report in the media in the recent past about a motor bike thief who had stolen a good number of bikes. Finally he was caught and imprisoned. On completion of the jail term he came out and while returning home he picked another bike and caught and sent back to the jail. This was not a lonely incident. These types of occurrences are quite frequent.

We must do something purpose oriented towards this direction. Borstal school is a detention center for youth aged 21 and below in England and other commonwealth countries. We too have these centres here but that is not enough. In this matter Norway is a model country for us. Norway has one of the lowest recidivism rates in the world, currently 20% within 2 years. With below 4,000 offenders in prison, Norway has the lowest crime rate in the world. Norway's prisons are renowned for being some of the best and most humane in the world. They do not have death penalty or life imprisonment.  We too should do something for the reformation of criminals. In fact we should ensure that every prisoner leaving the jail should reach home as a reformed person and along with that society should be protected fully from criminals. Three steps are suggested in this matter:

1. Mass and individual counselling should be arranged in all jails at least two days per week. Government may invite religious leaders, educationists, sociologists, psychologists and scholars from suitable other fields who are willing to render this as a free service.

2. State Crime Records Bureau may publish the new prisoners added every month.  Bifurcation of the community (caste, sub caste etc) without giving the name of the individual may be given in the list. This will help the concerned religious leaders to come out for the reformation of those who belong to their community. They may also take adequate measures to avoid more number of criminals from their respective community. They may also arrange competent counsellors for their reformation.

3. This step is to bring down criminal behaviour in people especially in youth. There is an opulence of habitual criminals in our society. Inappropriate behaviour against women is at its height in our state. Most of these offenders go scot free with their 'connections'. Preventive custody should be introduced against these offenders and other petty criminals. Their custody should be in an open jail where five days in a week counselling should be provided. During their stay in these open jail they should not be allowed to have personal meeting with relatives and friends. The courts should be empowered to send them to the open jail if they have prima facie found to have committed the offence. The jail term should be for a minimum period of six months and maximum one year.

If this system is introduced crimes in the state may considerably be declined.

KV Georgei

kvgeorgein@gmail.com