From Victimhood to Criminality: Examining Female Offending in India through the Lens of Marital Disputes and Beyond

Marriages in India are thought to be exceedingly sacred and once in a lifetime events. The marriage ceremony is an important component of social traditions and rituals, in which both sides of the family become emotionally involved and community people join in bestowing blessings for a happy married life. However, nowadays, a rising number of married couples are suffering pain and incompatibilities: Because of different socioeconomic causes, there has been a tremendous rise in unhappy marriages in India, resulting in a significant increase in divorces and separations. Female criminality has been ignored in research or overlooked in conventional criminological discourse. Society has always perceived women as passive, law-abiding, or victims, which leads to the ignorance of female criminality. However, data from India and across the world show that female criminality is increasing, but it's not always by choice; most of the time, it's a consequence of social, economic, psychological, or familial pressures. This Paper addresses structural factors such as poverty, domestic violence, patriarchal control, psychological aberration, and lack of education that push women toward criminal behaviour. The paper explores whether women become criminals or are criminalized by society and how women adopt maladaptive coping strategies to resolve their issues.