Control of Crime in India PDF

Control of Crime in India
Author(s): Charles Richmond Henderson

Source: Journal of the American Institute of Criminal Law and Criminology, Vol. 4, No. 3
(Sep., 1913), pp. 378-401
Published by: Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/1133355
Accessed: 31-01-2020 10:37 UTC
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide
range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and
facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at
https://about.jstor.org/terms
Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize,

preserve and extend access to Journal of the American Institute of Criminal Law and
Criminology
This content downloaded from 14.139.213.70 on Fri, 31 Jan 2020 10:37:33 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
CONTROL OF CRIME IN INDIA
CHARLES RICHMOND HENDERSON1
This article is based on observations made in visits to p

Ceylon, India, Burmah, Singapore and Hongkong in the year
on interviews with the superintendents of these prisons, as cour
intelligent a set of men as one can meet anywhere; and on r
important works of travelers and officials and government r
sources are indicated in the bibliographical note which mak
tentions to completeness.
I. CRIMINALS.
Number.-There are said to be about 2,000,000 persons, out of a

population of 315,000,000, who are annually arraigned for trial before
criminal tribunals (W. S. Lilly, India and its Problems, p. 180, 1902).
In India, as in other countries, there is a variety of crimes and crim-
inals. H. L. Adam (Oriental Crime) gives curious descriptions and
stories of prisoners, forgers, confidence tricksters, robbers (dacoits), insti
gators of riots, keepers and habitues of opium dens, fomenters of sedition
persons guilty of infanticide. It is a general belief of the European
officers that the prisoners do not differ in type from the ordinary natives
of their class and status. Possibly this may be because a minut
anthropological investigation has not yet been made. Of the insan
prisoners separate mention will be made.
One interesting generalization of the prison superintendents, several
times repeated, may be set down here: that convicts do not suffer shame
or loss of social respect by the fact of having been in jail. When they
return to their villages they retain the respect formerly shown them
Here also there is room for further investigation and, in case the gen
eralization is correct, for a study of the causes. Why is it that a
ex-convict will even recommend himself to an employer by saying that he
had learned his trade in prison? Is it because there is a general feel-
ing that it is no shame to violate laws made by foreigners and enforce
by alien authority? Or is there something in the Indian modes o
'Head of department of Ecclesiastical Sociology, University of Chicago, U.

S. representative on the International Prison Commission; President, Internation
Prison Congress, 1910; member of the Societe Generale des Prisons; President
United Charities of Chicago. Author of Introduction to Study of Dependent,
Defective and Delinquent Classes, 1901; Modern Prison System, 1903; Modern
Methods of Charity, 1904; Industrial Insurance in the United States, 1907;
Education in Relation to Sex, 1909, etc.
378
thought and speculation which blurs the ethical vision

wrong? Is crime thought of as a fatal and unavoidable
committed in a previous state of existence? These pro
pretation might well be studied in the field of direct obser
"Dacoity" is a term which comes down from times w
robbery was a part of the ordinary social system. Daco
bery, in which at least five persons conspire. Each
gang is a "dacoit." The word, has changed its meaning
effective administration of justice, but is retained to descr
form of crime.
Criminal tribes.l
There are several tribes whose real calling is robbery, "cattle-lifting,"
burglary with violence, docoity, and other serious offenses. When these
practices are connected with the sacred rules of a caste, they are not
regarded as criminal and do not injure the reputation of the offender.
The extension of the railways has facilitated the operation of these
tribes and spread it over a wider territory. In some districts the younger
members of such tribes have been induced to take interest in agriculture
and industry and have been turned away from living by depredation. On
the principle of setting a thief to catch a thief, some of these men
have been made useful as night watchmen and they are said to be
faithful to their salt and become skilful detectives. The Salvation
Army, aided by subsidies from the government, has undertaken work f
these undesirable citizens, and has received grants of land in the Un
Provinces and in the Punjab.
II. POLICE.
Numbers.-In 1901 there were about 145,000 regular po

usually armed only with a truncheon; and local village watch
bered about 700,000.
Character.-The higher officials, both English and Indian,
of integrity. Subordinate officials are often corrupt. (W. S.
p. 181.) The village headmen are not generally very rel
to the police; but some witnesses declare that often they are ver
in detecting offenders and in bringing them to justice.
Origin.-In the ancient village community, which was ind
complete in itself, with all the primitive trades represented, the
and judicial functions met in the headmen and councils of eld
a watchman served for surveillance. The village policemen h
'Sir E. C. Cox: Police and Crime in India, p. 229, ff. "Indian Empire,"
Vol. IV, p. 393. Dnyanodya, Bombay, 6 June, 1912.
379
CHARLES RICHMOND HENDERSON
recognized and paid in some provinces by the British Gove

Maine, Village Communities, p. 125). Sir E. C. Cox (o. c
that the police are of two kinds: the regular police, paid by
government, and the village watchmen, subsidiary to the regu
paid by the villages.
To Sir Charles Napier-who was familiar with Sir R
"bobbies"-is due one of the most important measures for
the modern police force of India. In 1843 he conquered Sin
Indus, and formed a corps of natives to destroy bands of
maintain order. The separation of the police from the army w
in the new plan. It was Napier who turned to account the
ment of communal responsibility in his endeavor to preve
murdering their wives. When he found it impossible to sec
he preached the people a sermon on the wickedness of wif
then threatened to impose a heavy fine on the whole vil
woman was found murdered.
H. L. Adam (Oriental Crime, p. 56), gives the salaries of the

police officials (about 1903) as follows:
Assistant Superintendent, 250 to 500 rupees per month.
District Superintendent, 600 to 1,000 rupees per month.
Deputy Inspector General, 1,200 to 1,400 rupees per month.
Commissioner, 1,500 rupees per month.
Inspector General, 2,500 rupees per month.
He declares that the superior officers (Europeans) are well paid
and fine men; that the lower police are natives, illiterate, poorly paid,
do dangerous work, have no hope of promotion and are constantly under
pressure to accept or extort bribes (p. 126, Adam describes a detective
or "tracker").
Identification.-There is a strong belief in India that a "man
who is once a thief is always a thief," and recidivism is expected. It is
necessary to have a system of distinguishing the members of a class
whom the police are set to watch and control. The finger-print sys-
tem is not entirely modern in India, but an elaborate method was first
suggested by an Indian magistrate, Sir W. Herschell, and worked out
by Sir Edward R. Henry, K.C.V.O., when he was Inspector-General
of Police in Bengal. Each province has a central identification bureau.
Preventive action.-A register of known habitual offenders is kept
at each police station, as well as of suspected characters and released
convicts, and their movements are watched by the village guardians of
the peace. Prisoners who are out on "good time" are closely watched.
380
The parole system is not developed, and this espionage

organized system of reformation. An important and e
official of Ceylon said that the ticket-of-leave men th
by the police and reform was made extremely difficult. O
ing an alert but friendly control by parole officers ca
tected and the offender have a chance to reform. So
aware that he is hounded by detectives he will lose h
The Central Criminal Intelligence office, under the
ment, collects and communicates information regardin
planned by criminal tribes, wandering gangs, forger
others who pass from province to province. This cent
ates with the police authorities of various districts a
states.
Eliciting testimony by torture or threats.-The

is said to be familiar in India. "Wherever I went in India I heard the
same complaint of the unscrupulousness and corruption of the police"
(Nevinson, p. 120). The wages of the native policemen are very
low, only 8 to 10 shillings a month, and the temptation to extortion
and bribery is very great.
It is difficult to secure the aid of the people of a village in arresting
a person charged with an offense, and to elicit evidence for conviction
Confessions may be made before a magistrate, but the law requires them
to be voluntary. Sir E. C. Cox says: "In my opinion, it would be
advisable to make all confessions made previous to trial once for all
irrelevant. One effect of this would be to put the police upon their
mettle to obtain extraneous evidence, and not rest satisfied with thi
miserable confession which is more likely than not to be withdrawn
and leave them stranded, at the last moment" (o. c., p. 113).
III. LAW.
The study of law is popular with the educated Ind

Judge reads English law-books; the young native lawyers
for the law is a study into which the educated youth of
are throwing themselves, and for which they may even b
play something very like genius" (Sir H. S. Maine, Village
ties in the East and West, p. 75, 1890). Of the Penal C
Sir H. S. Maine says (o. c., p. 115) : "which was not the le
ment of Lord Macauley's genius, and which is undoubtedly
serve some day as a model for the criminal law of England
In 1834 Lord Macauley became law member of the Supr
cil of India at a salary of ?10,000 a year. "The aims 'of M
381
thus stated by himself: "This code should not be a mere

ing usages and regulations, but should comprise all the
the Commission should think desirable. It should be framed on two
great principles-the principle of suppressing crime with the smalles
possible amount of suffering, and the principle of ascertaining truth
at the smallest possible cost of time and money." When this grea
man wrote the principle of reformation was dimly seen in the back
ground.
The Penal Code was left in draft by Macauley in 1838; after discus-
sion it was enacted in 1860 and went into operation in 1862. Macauley
speaks with satisfaction of having got rid of capital punishment except
for treason and wilful murder, and, indirectly of slavery.
Mr. Fitz James Stephen, Macauley's successor, said of this code:
"The result of the draft and revision has been to reproduce in a con-
cise, and even beautiful form, the spirit of the law of England-the
most technical, the most clumsy, and the most bewildering of all systems
of criminal law; though, I think if its principles are fully understood,
it is the most rational."
The various chapters of the Penal Code cover: general explanations,

punishments, abatement, offenses against the State, offenses relating to
the Army and Navy, offenses against public tranquillity, public serv-
ants, contempt of lawful authority, false evidence, offenses relating to
coins, weights and measures, public health, safety, convenience, decency,
morals, religion, the human body, property, trade marks, contracts,
marriage, defamation, intimidation.
It is said that after a half century of practical application, not a
section has been erased, hardly any has been even verbally altered, and
perhaps a dozen at most have been added.
The penalties authorized are death, transportation, penal servitude,
imprisonment (rigorous and simple), forfeiture of property, and fine;
in certain cases whipping is legal.
Capital punishment is retained in legislation and practice. The
method is hanging. In capital cases there is a right of appeal to the
Governor-General in Council, or to His Majesty the King-Emperor.
Execution is in the presence of about thirty invited persons, who rep-
resent the public. Executioners are long-term prisoners who have been
trained for the task. In Ceylon some renegade Buddhists, whose religion
is merciful, have been found willing to surrender social respect for the
enticing wages of the executioner. They are apparently detested more
than those they put to death by order of court.
382
IV. PROCEDURE AND COURTS:

Testimony.-Many observers agree that it is difficult to secure
reliable testimony in criminal trials. Oral testimony has little value.
Rudyard Kipling, as quoted by Lilly, said: "You can buy a murder
charge, including the corpse, all complete, for 50 rupees. * * *
When a native begins perjury, he perjures himself thoroughly; he does
not boggle over details."
The Code of Criminal Procedure determines with regard to each
offense, whether the police may arrest without warrant or not, whether
a warrant or a summons shall ordinarily issue in the first instance,
whether the offense is bailable or not, whether is is compoundable or
not, and by what court it is triable.
Justice is administered under a well organized system. All India
is divided into districts which resemble the English counties, and in
each district the chief executive officer is the Collector or Magistrate,
sometimes Deputy Commissioner. The Collector is responsible for the
revenue, education, public works and police. The executive head of
the police is the District Superintendent of Police. The Sessions
Judge in each district is not subordinate to the Collector-Magistrate, but
is an independent authority in important judicial matters. Each dis-
trict has subdivisions over which is a native civil officer ("mamlatdar"
in Bombay Presidency, elsewhere "tahsildar").
The courts are High Courts (one in each presidency or province),
Courts of Session; Presidency Magistrates, and Magistrates of three
classes; with a hierarchy of pay and of powers.
The natives regard the jury as the bulwark of their liberty; but
Indian gentlemen dislike to serve on it as ours do; and they are quite
ingenious in the discovery or invention of excuses.
The law and the penalties are alike for all, and every person
accused has a right to be defended by a lawyer. But the position of
Europeans in India has led the British rulers to afford them the
special protection of a particular form of trial. Only a magistrate
of the first class and himself a European British subject may try a
.charge against a European British subject. In trials of European
British subjects before a High Court or Court of Sessions, the trial is
by a jury of which not less than one-half must be Europeans or Ameri-
cans. While the British regard this special protection to be necessary,
and while criticism of injustice is rare, the distinction is naturally
galling and offensive to Indians.
The union of judicial and executive functions in the "Collector-
383
Magistrate" is frequently cited as an instance of British oppr

arbitrariness. As a matter of fact, India has long been accu
this ancient union of judicial and administrative authority in
person, and the Collector is a representative of an indigenou
tion. At the same time the present tendency is gradually to
functions in government, and the cause of complaint will p
disappear.
Favoritism for Englishmen.-"Killing is no murder, outrage no
crime, when Indians are concerned and Englishmen the culprits," is
declared to be the maxim of many Englishmen. (H. W. Nevinson,
The New Spirit in India, p. 118, 1908). "A magistrate with power to
inflict a two years' sentence on an Indian, may inflict only six months
on a European. No Indian may try a criminal case against a Euro-
pean, and in criminal cases a European may claim a jury, with a
majority of Europeans on it" (Nevinson, o. c., 1. 119). In spite
of this severe indictment, made by an Englishman, the reputable
Indians rarely accuse the British judges of want of fairness and impar-
tiality in ordinary cases. It is even said by some independent observers
that British judges are too meticulously scrupulous about requiring
legal evidence for conviction, and that fewer rascals would escape
punishment if the foreign judges were content to convict on the weight
of evidence something short of European standards.2
V. PRISONS.
All the prisons of India are there called "jails." There are hu
dreds of them; district, subsidiary and central jails. The local lock
is often a mere double iron cage. The large central jails are for con
victs sentenced to more than one year's imprisonment; there is a jai
the headquarters of each district; and there are subsidiary jails in t
interior of districts for prisoners awaiting trial and convicts under shor
sentences. In 1903 British India had 40 central jails, 192 district jai
and 498 smaller local jails and lock-ups.
The following observations are set down from notes:
Bogumbra Jail, Ceylon, at Kandy. The residence of the capa
Superintendent,.Mr. Walker, is a cozy English home and Mrs. Walk
is a gracious hostess. The home life of the official is an essential e
2It is not necessary here to reproduce the admirable and intelligent d

scription of procedure in Indian courts made by the competent French studen
Joseph Chailley, in his L'Inde Britannioue, p. 371 ff. He appreciates the dif
culties of the situation and the fine qualities of those who preside in the cour
One telling phrase must be quoted: "It (the trial before an English judge)
is a conscientious and patient search for the truth, conducted not with maje
but with good humor."
384
Prisoners and Guard, Nya Jail, Calcutta.
ment in his efficiency. The prison is surrounded by the usual high

wall. The cells are large and lofty. The bars, roofs and windows
would not be secure in America, but the outside wall watched by
guardians is sufficient when there are no professional criminals. There
are many murderers, men who kill from spite or jealousy, often incited
by the woman in the case. The hospital is a large, well ventilated ward
protected from sun and rain by projecting eaves. Stone-breaking for
road material is the principal industry, and a quarry is part of the
equipment. All new buildings are erected by prisoners. Some were
pounding cocoanut fibre and others were weaving coarse mats. Flogging
is rarely used. Some of the more dangerous convicts are sent to the
Andaman islands.
Major A. W. de Wilton, Inspector General of Ceylon prisons, guided
my observations of the Welikadi Jail at Colombo. This institution
covers many acres, all surrounded by the high wall. One large cell house
has three tiers of individual cells, English style. Some of the one-
story cell sheds have individual cells, all large, high, well-ventilated
and adapted to the hot climate. The food is rice with curry; bread,
soup and fish, all cooked in a boiler with double jacket. The men
seem to be well fed and the industries are varied. Several trades are
taught but little machinery is used, as is fitting with people whose indus-
tries are primitive. Looms of the Salvation Army pattern have been
introduced; simple and strong, but with an improvement in the auto-
385
Bangalore Prisoners (November).

matic shuttle for weavers of drilling. The weavers of cocoanut fibre
mats use a stronger and ruder loom, with a shuttle thrown by hand,
as in the villages. A printing shop of the Government employs about
200 men.
Washing for the prisons, hospitals and offices is done by machin-

ery. Sewing machines, driven by foot power, are used for making
clothing. Only a few prisoners can read and write, and there is
no prison school. Discipline is easy, and only 23 convicts were flogged
in the year of last report in the whole island, out of 3,000 prisoners.
The semi-dark discipline cell is rarely used with those who do not
respond to low diet penalties. Major de Wilton is confident that the
ticket-of-leave system with police supervision is vicious. A prisoner
goes out from the jail to find work; the detectives shadow and dis-
courage him; he cannot keep employment, and in desperation he com-
mits crime and returns to punishment. It is a costly and hopeless
method. The authorities are talking of introducing the Borstal sys-
tem, which is essentially our reformatory system with parole officers.
The latrines, by order of the physician, are covered with fine
wire netting, to prevent carrying disease by insects. There is not
much venereal disease among these men, as there is little prostitution,
although both polygamy and polyandry are common and marital unions
are often transient.
The Rev. J. S. Chandler, American missionary at Madura, in
Southern India, was my guide to the jail of that city. He is a non-
386
official, local visitor, appointed by the authorities, a

lish custom, to assure the public of open dealing. H
sit with their legs in a pit before the rude loom; the
by hand, usually rather slowly. The food is vegetables
cell houses are on the association principle with a few
murderers awaiting execution or transportation. T
used for discipline. Venereal diseases are rife in this ja
asserted, there are over 20,000 prostitutes in Mad
claimed, the temple is no aid to purity of morals.
Mr. Phillips, District Superintendent of Police
District, tells of a tribe of thieves in his jurisdict
are cattle-lifters, and there are about 94,000 males o
in Southern India. They are trained to theft as ch
older men seldom reform; it is their trade. Many of t
have turned into honest industries. When the pri
crimes increase. The headmen in the villages are gene
the police, with some exceptions of fine men.
The prison at Poona had 1,700 prisoners, of wh
women. There also the outside wall is double. "Se
made "solitary" by the simple device of closing the s
inside of which is a small court about the size of the cell. The cells
are high, open at the top for circulation of air under the roof. Th
industries are varied. Men were weaving a fine rug, the directo
chanting the indications of the pattern from a manuscript, while th
weavers responded antiphonally and placed the threads, and so t
figures grew to the rhythm of music. Many prisoners here, to the
regret of the superintendent, were idle. The superintendent, Major Low-
son, I.M.S., pointed out his colony of isolated lepers, about 20 in num
ber. All the officials are inoculated to make them immune to the
bubonic plague which will always be a menace while the popular su
stitions protect rats as more precious than human lives, and ignor
permits small-pox patients to roam about in crowded streets,
prejudice will not permit vaccination and isolation.
At Madras the jail is a busy factory, with a fine Governm
printing establishment. The drains are open and the Superintend
affirms, as a physician, that in their situation this is best, since
heavy rains carry away all waste and the tropical sun destroy
germs.
At Bangalore the Superintendent, Dr. T. Chokama, gave me att
tion. Inside the high outside wall is another enclosure of pickets,
387
Sikh Police, Hongkong.
cell houses inside. The shop sheds are arranged in a great circle
between the stockade and the outside wall. Boys were imprisoned
here, some as young as eight years, separated from others at night.
A reform school was in prospect. The department for women, under
the same administration, was outside, with its own inclosing wall.
There were 26 women under a European matron. A "holy man" was
preaching, seated on a lofty chair, and telling stories with a moral from
the popular legends of the country. The prisoners are encouraged by
good marks to attend.
The district and subsidiary jails are large enclosures, with square
walls, and within have long sheds, tile-roofed, in which the prisoners
work, and wards for sleeping accommodations. There are special
apartments for the guards and rooms for the discipline of refractory
prisoners. The rooms are kept clean; sanitary regulations are carefully
enforced under medical control; and nowhere do these open buildings,
carefully protected from the fierce tropical sun, appear to be gloomy.
388
Bombay Factory Police.
The central jail is surrounded by a high wall, sometimes of sun-

dried brick. The buildings are of burnt brick.
The plan of the Alipore Jail, at Calcutta, fairly and typically
represents the prison systems of India, although there is a great variet;y
of designs, and the small local prisons are sometimes quite simple
and primitive.
The visitor observes the usual high inclosing wall; passes through
the guarded entrance and moves directly down the wide street to the
center of the grounds, where at one side of an ellipse is the watch
tower and chapel. From this tower the watchman can survey the
wards which cover a wide space, because the structures must be low and
roomy, and provide for various groups and classes. The Hindus and
Mohammedans have a cook room separate from that for Europeans.
Solitary cells are built in a court. The bathing platforms conform to
the national custom, being in the open air. The latrines are outside
the wards. The B. Class prisoners are separated from those of Class A.
The printing rooms are located in the corner at the right of the
entrance. Prisoners under trial have separate wards. A large hospital
building is inside the great wall. The quarters for officers are in
another "compound."
The dormitories of the large jails are rectangular halls with
oblong couches of earth built up to some height above the ground.
Blankets and mattresses of rice straw are provided as needed, especially
389
in the cold season. There are no separate cells except a few

confinement for discipline.
Prisoners are associated during the day at work and in
wards at night. While the English method would naturall
rapid extension of cellular treatment this method has not
progress in India. The chief difficulty of building cellular
in the great cost of such structures; and the climate of Ind
in the plains, requires lofty ceilings and rapid ventilation; t
and engineers have been compelled to give attention to th
tions. It is this situation which has produced a type of bui
has much interest for the Southern States of the American Un
they come to build, and their administrators would do we
Indian prison architecture for this very reason. To pil
cells, as is done in the North, would be cruel in a hot clim
for months together the interior of a building is like an
British officers have found a way of securing shade and ve
moderate cost. Comparatively small sums are spent on stee
lance in guards takes the place of expensive iron subs
integrity and alertness.
Personnel.-The chief officer is called a superintendent
ernor," as in England. He is usually a medical man, of
("Indian Medical Service"). His staff includes a jailer, depu
clerks, hospital assistants, compounder (chemist or drug c
warden, assistant wardens, and female warden; and there ar
wardens." In the small jails the superintendent is sub
supervision of the district magistrate, collector, or deput
sioner. Above these is the Inspector-General of all jails in
ince who inspects and decides on cases of corporal punishm
generally an officer of the Indian Medical Service with jail
The superintendent may remove a subordinate officer, afte
A dismissed officer has the right of appeal to the Inspector
Convict officers.3
It is part of the policy of the Indian system to save ex
employing selected convicts in the administration of the pr
is generally agreed that this policy works well in practice
conditions. The marking system is the basis for the se
promotion of convict wardens. Prisoners who have not been con-
victed of specially heinous crimes, who have good health, and who
behave well, are eligible for this distinction during the later period
3H. L. Adam, Oriental Crime, Ch. xxii.

390
of their sentence. It is the duty of the convict watch

turns in watching over the sleeping wards. They mo
count their charges occasionally to prevent escapes. They
of blue cloth on the right sleeve, are exempted from ha
shaved or the beard clipped, and from wearing neck ring
During the day these watchmen do the work of ordinary
From the most reliable "watchmen" are selected "convict over-
seers." These overseers help to maintain discipline, to keep out con-
traband articles, to report violation of rules, conspiracies, sickness,
care for the bedding, to see that prisoners bathe, and quell rio
Their dress and belt indicate their rank. They carry no weapon, no
even a cane. They have special privileges. Non-official prison visito
are appointed to make periodical inspections and they are admitted
at any time. European or American missionaries are sometimes select
for this service. They record their observations in a book and m
report to the central administration and make suggestion for improv
ments.
Reception of the prisoner and grades of penalty.-Immediate

upon conviction the criminal goes to jail. Distinctions are made
the law between "simple punishment," "hard labor," and "rigoro
imprisonment." In practice these distinctions lose much of their valu
All convicts go to the same jail, eat the same food, do the same work
and the sacred letter of the law is kept by slight devices which to th
outsider seem almost trivial, but which may have some use. As the
system of transportation is authorized the prisoners condemned to th
penalty are held in rigorous punishment until a group is collected t
be sent from the mainland. When admitted the day of release is fixe
and recorded in a diary. Each prisoner is given a number; he i
searched, and his clothing, money, jewelry, documents are taken an
preserved in a special place. Women are searched by female officers
There is a jail uniform. The medical examination occurs at entrance
The caste of the prisoner is made the basis of classification. When th
shaving of the head or clipping of the beard is felt to be degrading it
omitted.
Classification.-Separate divisions of a large jail are provided

for the various categories of prisoners: persons awaiting trial, female
juveniles, civil prisoners, ordinary convicts, habitual offenders, and
sick prisoners.
Health.-The health of the prisoners is carefully watched over
and the medical control is assurance of intelligent management of die
391
Bangalore. Prisoners and Guard.
light, ventilation, exercise, treatment and all matters of personal and

house hygiene. The chances of life outside the institution are inferior
to those within. The prisoners are weighed periodically and records
kept. In some of the prisons visited the superintendent had trained
assistants, even convicts, to take blood counts, to make microscopic
examinations of blood and secretions and to paint the results of these
observations in permanent records. In a country where intestinal
parasites give so much trouble, these studies and records not only
guide treatment but have a scientific value for the general population.
Diseases can be traced to their origin, symptoms can be recorded, and
the effects of remedies studied. Prisoners are as well fed as laborers
outside. They have two meals a day, at 7 :30 a. m. and 5 p. m., with r
and refreshment in the middle of the day. The hospital diet is bette
Although prisoners are probably below the average in vitality, thei
health during incarceration compares favorably with that of the gen
eral population.
Reform schools.-The law permits magistrates, at their discretion
to send young offenders to reformatory schools instead of to the com
mon jails. Only juvenile convicts are taught in classes. The exper
ments with literary instruction of adults have not been satisfactory.
Boy convicts have their own wards, and they are divided in
children and adolescents. The latter sleep in cubicles, go to school a
are trained in trades. The courts are urged not to send boys to j
when other means can be used; but the machinery for dealing judicia
392
with young offenders is yet imperfectly developed. The co

to a reformatory school for a period of three to seven
beyond the age of eighteen years. A young person ma
an admonition to the care of his parents who must gi
responsible for the youth. Whipping, by way of scho
permitted. In 1903 there were 1,168 boys in the eight
The year 1899 was signalized by the removal of thes
establishments from the control of the department of
education. So long as they were under the prison offi
almost inevitably conducted on the principles of the cr
the educational aim was obscured. The schools are im
industrial training and their directors are expected to
upon discharge to secure employment and watch over
Up to 1903 girl offenders were kept in jails in cases wh
not be remanded to guardians. There were then 29
Special divisions of the prisons are assigned them; but
as a temporary and unsatisfactory makeshift.
Conduct and occupations of prisoners.-Generally the
said to be tractable, obedient, contented. They take
their occupations and in some of the more artistic trad
ing, they acquire a high degree of skill and work with
It is one of the most touching spectacles of India to see
of weavers, chanting antiphonally the instructions of t
weaving to music the fabrics which are to grace the p
personages in Europe. These goods cannot be imported i
States, because the federal law excludes prison made goo
The men do not seem to be cowed nor do they shr
from their officers, nor are they morose and sullen. T
Indians generally the serious look of earnestness and c
nity. In one great prison visited there was angry disc
change of diet ordered by the administration, and one
made a scene, shrieking and gesticulating his protest w
and his guest came near. A few days later this disco
form of riot and strong measures were necessary to res
the great variety of conventional prejudices of the pe
caste, fear of ceremonial uncleanness, and variety of rel
is a wonder there is not more trouble. It is the Britis
things to remain neutral and to respect the superstiti
the Indians, even in prison. Caste prejudices are re
work is given to the lowest castes. As far as possible m
393
work at their ordinary trades. If a man has no trade he is ta

Agriculture, gardening, weaving are common. The looms ar
tive, such as are used in the native villages, for convicts coul
nor repair a modern machine run by steam power. Each ma
task and receives extra marks for overwork. Vegetables for
are grown in extensive gardens on the premises. Fish ar
tanks (ponds). Lime fruit is grown.
Escapes.-The Indian convict resembles his brothers in
in his love of freedom, and he will escape if he can without
risk. The officials follow the runaway and arrest him if pos
they are aided by the fact that a convict will usually return t
village and family; away from his community he is in strai
oners who have escaped or attempted to escape are placed in fe
degraded in class, wear a red cap, lose their good marks.
prosecuted judicially as an ordinary crime. Fellow prisoners
runaways are punished; those who help to prevent escapes are
Keys, locks and fetters are examined every day. Armed gua
use buckshot to prevent outbreaks. (H. L. Adams, o. c.) "
ments for guarding convicts follow the principle that the pr
his workship, or sleeping ward, should be watched rather th
walls of the jail." Fetters are used only as punishment or to
violence.
Disciplinary measures.-In addition to denial of privila

superintendent may employ fetters and flogging to secure ob
The dress may be changed to coarse cloth. During the year 19
was an average of two disciplinary punishments to each pris
parade system is a valuable means of control and order, tak
nection with a system of rules for the regulation of daily lif
minute details. Men of lawless habits need the drill and pres
an ordered community life.
The rules and prohibitions relate chiefly to the order
house, the possession of forbidden articles, care of property
mutiny, and escapes. There are not many desperate chara
conduct is usually good. Failure to complete the task is the m
quent offense.
Rewards are given to encourage good conduct and promo
post as petty official and "good time" under the mark system
ords. A certain number of marks earns a day's remission
tence; a benefit which convicts appreciate.
Women prisoners.-Female prisoners are kept in a wing o
394
rate department of the jail, under the care of a m

whom I saw impressed me as being earnest and com
were praised by the superintendents. Lahore ha
female convicts. Women prisoners are exempt by la
They are employed in spinning, making and repair
various other light industries, in addition to care
Labor.-Lord Macauley gave attention to the imp
ditions in prisons. Road gangs were abolished, and
publicity of punishment. About 1834 a commission,
the prevailing notions of those days, thought it w
labor in prisons with machines which produced nothing
"dull, wearisome and disgustful."
There are three classes of labor-hard, medium
the work of each prisoner is assigned after careful
physical ability. Most of the convicts are occupi
some are engaged on public works.
The Indian officials struggle with the knotty pro
their colleagues in Europe and America; they mu
productive work without competition with free labo
possible the "state use" system is followed and the g
for printing, tent-making and manufacture of clot
are met. There are large and successful manufacto
the central jails in several provinces.
Insane.-Convicts suspected of insanity are conve
and there placed under observation. If, after a per
they seem to be fitted for life in an ordinary jail, they
Prisoners for debt, if proved to be honest, are re
swindlers, punishment is meted out.
Transportation. The Adaman Islands.
Transportation, while long since abandoned by
af home, is retained in India. A penal colony is esta
Port Blair, in the Adaman Islands. It was begu
and long-sentence prisoners of India are transport
ment. Banishment is dreaded by the home-lovin
many of the officials testified that the prisoners
regard it as a hardship. Probably generalizations
unreliable.
The climate is hot, the scenery beautiful, the region not unhealthy.
The islands are 300 miles from Burme, 400 miles from the Malay
4F. W. Ewens, I. M. S., Insanity in India, Calcutta, 1908.

395
Archipelago, 700 miles from India. The population of

colony consists of convicts, guards, descendants of offici
trading community, and the naked, homeless Negritos.
For the first six months the transported convicts are
cellular prison, day and night, with brief exercise in o
light work in the cell. After six months of cellular life,
is taken to the association jail where he does hard labor
sleeps in a cubicle, for one and one-half years. Then for t
he is a slave, sleeps in barracks and works hard all day, un
a taskmaster. After five years the life is less intense, em
more varied, and a small allowance is paid. After ten year
vict may become self-supporting, with local ticket-of-lea
send for his wife and children, or marry a convict woman
Women work inside under strict discipline for three years,
years under lighter discipline, and later may support the
marry a convict.
In 1902-3 the daily average population was 12,182 m
women.
Aside from house service, the convicts are put to work in tea pla
tations and in manufactures. Life prisoners may be released after
or 25 years; though thugs and professional prisoners are never releas
Well behaved women may be released after fifteen years.
The settlement is administered by a superintendent, aided by a
staff of European assistants and native subordinates.
VI. DISCHARGED PRISONERS.
After release the convict is given a subsistence allowance for his

journey to his home.
Some beginnings have been made with the "Borstal" system, whose
principles are akin to those of our American reformatories. Serious
difficulties have thus far prevented the development of reformatory
processes, as we know them. India is far from the current of European
practices; the people are very different from those of the west and they
are impenetrable to the European understanding: their beliefs, ethical
standards and motives are their own; the British must remain neutra
and external to the religious convictions of prisoners; there are no
indigenous associations of reform; caste feelings frequently keep per-
sons of the higher classes distant from the low caste or outcaste con-
victs; it is almost impossible, thus far, to induce Indians to befriend
ex-convicts after discharge; the customs of the country do not encourage
such altruistic activities.
396
Under all circumstances a few superintendents h

cooperation of the Salvation Army, which has deve
gate" service under these chilling conditions. Th
body accept responsibility to watch over the condu
committed to their care. Already there are evidences that their work
will bear fruit.
Stimulated by European and Christian examples there is now a

serious movement of Hindus and Mohammedans to accept responsibility
for social service in this field; and they are bringing out forgotten
texts of their sacred writings to give ecclesiastical sanction to this
enterprise. This movement is only at the beginning, but it is not
without promise.
Dhoby. Washerman. Nya Jail, Calcutta.
VII. RESULTS.
The British administration may well claim the credit of sev

important achievements. It suppressed suttee ("sati"), the imm
of widows on the funeral pyres of their deceased husbands. It
ished Thuggee, a terible form of assassination, consecrated an
tected by religious beliefs. It has done much to diminish infa
especially of female infants.5
The Pax Brittanica has not only protected defenseless and dis-
5For Lord Bentinck's reasons for abolishing suttee see E. C. Cox, Police
and Crime in India, p. 25-27.
397
organized India from external invasion, it has also made l

and travel safe in the entire extent of the continent.
The British found the most revolting and cruel punishments, the
death penalty being frequently and arbitrarily employed; they have
reduced capital punishment to a minimum necessary for social defense
and done away with cruel and barbarous tortures.
The Mohammedan law, which prevailed in a large part of India
before the British rule, punished adultery (of the woman) with death
by stoning, highway robbery and murder with death by sword or
crucifixion, simple highway robbery with loss of hands and feet, theft
with amputation of the right hand, wine-drinking with flogging up to
80 stripes. It must be remembered that in the XVIII century English
punishments also were still severe.
Security of life and property.-In spite of the fact that India
has produced some of the most depraved and inhuman of all criminals,
and that delinquents of this type are only too numerous, life and
property are remarkably secure in India in ordinary times. When
fanaticism and sedition are in ferment, the situation may be tense and
dangerous; but this is exceptional. The vast majority of the people are
industrious tillers of the soil, gentle in spriit, affectionate in their
families and held firmly by the bonds of traditional sanctions of
morality.
The general security of life and property, therefore, is due rather
to custom, belief and sentiment than to law and prisons; but this is
true in all other civilized lands.
And yet good government and its correctional institutions have
their value and importance, and to the administration of justice in
India large credit is due for its share in the protection of the com-
munity. That a very firm, alert and vigorous administration is neces
sary may be inferred from the statistics of the police, the courts, a
the prisons.
Even the casual traveller can see the evidence for the truth of the
statement of an experienced and able official: "Considering the density
of the population, its poverty and its diversity, crime is under very close
control. One is struck with the number of little children wearing silver
necklaces or waistbands (and little else besides) that play about the road
in towns and villages, with no one in charge, but in absolute confidence.
Coolie women go from village to village with no fear for their silver
bangles and necklaces. Houses are not closely shut up at night; their
doors not infrequently stand wide open. A man can safely travel with a
bag of rupees wherever his business takes him." (Fuller, Studies, o. c.,
p. 279-280.)
398
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
Sir Edmund C. Cox: Police and Crime in India (Bibliography, p

The Indian Empire (Gazetteer), Vol. IV. Ch. V.
W. S. Lilly: India and its Problems.
Sir Bamfylde Fuller: Studies of Indian Life and Sentiment (1910).
Henry W. Nevinson: The New Spirit in India (1908).
H. L. Adam: Oriental Crime (n. d.; about 1903).
Annual Administration Reports on Police and Jails (in the several
provinces).
Annual Review of Jail Operations by the Government of India (Gazette
of India).
Reports of Police Commissioners.
Mitteilungen der Internationalen Krim. Vereinigung, Band 18, Heft 2, pp.
640-650. Justiz und Strafwesen im fernen Osten. Description by clever con-
vict of his experience under British officers in Singapore jail. An exceedingly
instructive account of the methods of arrest, preliminary hearing, gathering
evidence, confinement while on trial, final hearing and details of life in jail
while serving sentence for forgery. As the convict was a German familiar with
the forms of justice at home, the reader has the advantage of reading interest-
ing comparisons between English and German procedure and prisons. He
testifies to the fair-dealing, humanity and good sense of British officials. Sing-
apore differs from India in many points, and I have not used this material in
my article.
The same publication (Band 19, Heft 1, 1912) gives many oriental laws,
with convenient summaries and translations.
Joseph Chailley, L'Inde Britainique, p. 371 ff.
Codes: Penal Code and Code of Criminal Procedure.
399
l PI
l o - ~~~ z
ly'
CP
0
co
r-
0
f'o
r-
0 z
r
n p
o
I 0 F
C- '0
-r z
p 4
;z 3.
.
z
s
Z
r
0, -n
In
rl
R c
o~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
p p G P
N n 24. ,
f r5
I - --
,r !W13-1
.X, liy
, i ,r
,
-.o
o o
T O
II
i..:
I _

Control of Crime in India PDF

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Control of Crime in India PDF

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Control of Crime in India PDF

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Control of Crime in India

Author(s): Charles Richmond Henderson

Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize,

CHARLES RICHMOND HENDERSON1

This article is based on observations made in visits to p

Number.-There are said to be about 2,000,000 persons, out of a

'Head of department of Ecclesiastical Sociology, University of Chicago, U.

thought and speculation which blurs the ethical vision

Numbers.-In 1901 there were about 145,000 regular po

recognized and paid in some provinces by the British Gove

H. L. Adam (Oriental Crime, p. 56), gives the salaries of the

The parole system is not developed, and this espionage

Eliciting testimony by torture or threats.-The

The study of law is popular with the educated Ind

thus stated by himself: "This code should not be a mere

The various chapters of the Penal Code cover: general explanations,

IV. PROCEDURE AND COURTS:

Magistrate" is frequently cited as an instance of British oppr

2It is not necessary here to reproduce the admirable and intelligent d

Prisoners and Guard, Nya Jail, Calcutta.

ment in his efficiency. The prison is surrounded by the usual high

Bangalore Prisoners (November).

Washing for the prisons, hospitals and offices is done by machin-

official, local visitor, appointed by the authorities, a

Sikh Police, Hongkong.

Bombay Factory Police.

The central jail is surrounded by a high wall, sometimes of sun-

in the cold season. There are no separate cells except a few

3H. L. Adam, Oriental Crime, Ch. xxii.

of their sentence. It is the duty of the convict watch

Reception of the prisoner and grades of penalty.-Immediate

Classification.-Separate divisions of a large jail are provided

Bangalore. Prisoners and Guard.

light, ventilation, exercise, treatment and all matters of personal and

with young offenders is yet imperfectly developed. The co

work at their ordinary trades. If a man has no trade he is ta

Disciplinary measures.-In addition to denial of privila

rate department of the jail, under the care of a m

4F. W. Ewens, I. M. S., Insanity in India, Calcutta, 1908.

Archipelago, 700 miles from India. The population of

After release the convict is given a subsistence allowance for his

Under all circumstances a few superintendents h

Stimulated by European and Christian examples there is now a

Dhoby. Washerman. Nya Jail, Calcutta.

The British administration may well claim the credit of sev

organized India from external invasion, it has also made l

Sir Edmund C. Cox: Police and Crime in India (Bibliography, p

You might also like