Women and Criminal Law in Colonial Punjab, 1860-1947

This dissertation project addresses law, medicine and gender in colonial India. The chief objective is to contribute to understanding of the impact of British colonial law on Indian society. Specifically, the project focuses on the codification of British criminal law and on cases involving crimes against women in the province of Punjab, 1860-1947. To pursue this objective, through archival research and close historical analysis of court records, three lines of inquiry will be pursued: (1) why did the British become involved in prosecuting crimes against women when, since the 18th century, such matters had by colonial design been considered private indigenous legal matters?; (2) what role did Western medical jurisprudence play in the practice of colonial criminal law in terms of the standards used by the courts to interpret witness testimony and other evidence?; (3) how did the introduction of a uniform criminal code and a shifting notion of public order require the renegotiation and reconstitution of prior bodies of law, such as religious law and customary law? This research, which will be conducted in Lahore (Pakistan), New Delhi (India), and London (England) will have implications for understanding the present-day practice of law in South Asia as well as in other post-colonial societies where ongoing debates continue to rage about religious law and customary law and their discriminatory effects on women.