Crime and Punishment

I don't know whether this post of mine exactly fits into this blog. I do allow the moderator to delete this post any time s/he wants to if found irrelevant by people.

Development has multiple aspects to it and it is very tough to define it in a single sentence. But, according to me and for simplification purpose, development could be seen in one aspect as eradication of economic and social disparity. I am sure none of us in this generation would be here to see achievement of this goal of eradication of disparity. But as people, who strive for it, we should look at various components that define this goal and take them in our essence in our day to day activities. One of the aspects of development defined this way is to look at the treatment of crime by economically and socially deprived.

I am writing this post sitting in a hotel room. Another resident of this hotel had left a purse with Rs.7000 and precious cards in her room yesterday when she was out on official work and the toilet cleaner stole the purse. The Police just found the boy in some place outside, brought him and were slapping him unstoppingly in front of a crowd to find where he had kept the cash.

Most of us were proud of the police for their sharpness. Some were more than happy that there were no more suspicion on them for the theft. Most of them were really happy that the guy was punished for such an offence. I seriously have certain questions. I am putting them to you at the risk of sounding too romantic. If stealing the purse was a crime, leaving the purse so carelessly is also a crime. Why would a crime committed by somebody to whom that money was really valuable be more serious than a crime committed by somebody who earns almost Rs.1 lakh a month? What about losing the purse or thinking to have lost the purse? What if you find such an opportunity?

These questions are in no way a defence to the crime committed by the person. We do keep reading quotes like : 'Society creates crime; criminals do it' and seem to appreciate them when dealing with it theoretically. But, do we understand the essence of it? Was there a need for the criminal to be slapped and hit continously in front of a crowd? Is only death by hanging a harsh enough punishment for a civilized society? Is slapping and hitting the criminal in private parts in public acceptable to a civilized society?

Who will define the rules for dealing with the crime by these economically and socially deprived people - without 'letting them off'? When will we define newer tolerance level? Is it not indicative of the way we look at economically and socially deprived in general?

Would higher tolerance and proper dealing help us look at disparity itself in a different way and as a smaller problem than is perceived today? Would that reduce the crime rates.....