Book: Queens of Crime: True Stories of Women criminals from India
Author: Sushant Singh, Kulpreet Yadav
Publisher: Penguin Random House India
Pages: 217; Price: Rs 299
For years, it was only the infamous Bandit Queen Phoolan Devi whose name made the headlines when it came to women in crime. Of late, the bandit queen has been raised by Indrani Mukerjea. However, these two are not the only ones who make up the list of women criminals in India. The list is long and will lengthen with the passage of time.
Queens of Crime: True Stories of Women criminals from India is a compilation of 12 real life crime cases in India. Each chapter is a result of meticulous, detail and painstaking work by the authors. They have left no stone unturned to interview the police officials working on those cases and have, at times, tried to interact with the criminals and others involved. At first, as readers we might sympathise with the criminals, but as the stories progress and the heinousness of the crime comes to fore we are forced to change our mind. Though most of the women mentioned in the book first committed crimes owing to difficult circumstances, it was in no time that their conscience took a back seat and they simply ceased to give a second thought before taking extreme steps.
As one starts reading the book, from the initial pages it is very clear that danger does not discriminate on the basis of gender. We all are aware of the fact that no individual is a born criminal. The same is true for all these women. They were not meant to enter the world of crime. It might be due to dysfunctional families, sexual abuse or sheer greed of making money that acted as triggers for the women to become lawbreakers.
However, not each of them was forced into crime. For example, a criminal named Preeti wanted to teach a lesson to men who cheated on their wives. Many women mentioned in the book lack remorse of any kind and though they were victims of situations, the path was a trap to disaster and nothing else.
