The Book

How does the state deliver justice to citizens? Are certain groups disadvantaged while seeking help from law enforcement and the courts?

This book charts, for the first time, the full trajectory of accessing justice in India’s criminal justice system. It highlights a pattern of “multistage” discrimination, characterized by a more onerous process and unequal outcomes for women at successive steps of seeking restitution.

To address discrimination and amplify the voices of victims of violence against women, the book explores the impact of gender representation in law enforcement through all-female “enclaves” or women-only police stations. It shows that certain forms of representation in which segregation is embedded can lead to unintended consequences.

Crime and Punishment in India utilises a range of research designs, from quasi-experiments and experiments to machine learning applied to big data and ethnography. A significant contribution lies in the introduction of a fine-grained dataset based on half a million police reports that are subsequently linked to court files.

The book not only sheds light on justice delivery in the world’s largest democracy but also transports readers into the world of crime and punishment in India.