Crimes involving women have come into focus in Kerala with the surfacing of scams and fraudulent financial deals.
One of the such case is that of a woman, who allegedly misused her connections with the Chief Minister's Office for large scale financial fraud with her partner.
But social psychologists disapprove of expressions like "female criminality", holding that the real issue is cultural deprivation which corrupts all sections, including women.
There had been several 'intelligent' crimes involving women in the past decade in Kerala, who unlike their male counterparts, resort to aggressive methods to achieve their ends, allegedly using their scheming skills, beauty and charm to lure people into their traps to extract money.
Most cases involving women are fraudulent financial deals, though murder and violence are not uncommon.
Cheating cases like the solar scam, in which the woman and her live-in partner were involved, came into focus with its links with the Chief Minister's close aides, are the most common mode of operation by women offenders.
Often they are used by male partners for 'honey trap' and menfolk in the state, now earning notoriety for sex scandals, fall for it at the cost of their own lives and reputation.
The woman and her partner, who cheated crores of rupees from the rich, including businessmen, doctors and other professionals offering them solar energy solutions and sales agencies, mostly went in search of people holding black money.
Many frauds done by them have not yet come to light as most victims who gave black money to them are scared of filing complaints, police said.
The woman allegedly managed to forge friendships with the higher-ups in political parties and police. It is this connection she used to mislead clients to extract money.
C J John, eminent psychiatrist, says women turn to crimes mostly out of disappointments in life and there should be efforts to instill confidence in them.
"The cultural corruption in society--greed, consumerism, over-sexuality--has pervaded all sections, including women, teenagers and even children. With advancement of technology, it is easy to get connected with a woman and inspire her for good or bad things," John told PTI.
"Though there are a few women criminals, generally they have always been the catalytic force that drives society to virtuousness. Their biological nature is to dissuade others from crimes. We need to provide all protection to this gender," he said.
