Volume II, Special Issue, February 2026
Volume-II, Special Issue, February, 2026 |
Received: 23.12.2025 | Accepted: 03.01.2026 | ||
Published Online: 28.02.2026 | Page No: | ||
DOI: 10.69655/atmadeep.vol.2.specialissue.W. | |||
অপরাধ ও অপরাধী মনস্তত্ত্ব: প্রসঙ্গ সায়ন্তনী পূততুন্ডের বাংলা গোয়েন্দা উপন্যাস ‘সর্বনাশিনী’ আবু আসিম, গবেষক, আধুনিক ভারতীয় ভাষা বিভাগ, বাংলা বিভাগ, আলীগড় মুসলিম বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়, উত্তর প্রদেশ, ভারত |
Crime and Criminal Psychology: In the Context of Sayantani Puttundu’s Bengali Detective Novel Sarbanashini Abu Asim, Research Scholar, Department of Modern Indian Languages (Bengali), Aligarh Muslim University, Uttar Pradesh, India | ||
ABSTRACT | ||
Just as a human being gradually grows up from the postnatal stage acquiring ideals, morality, humanity, and a conscience-driven mindset, alongside this process, small initial criminal tendencies within a person also gradually give rise to crime and criminal psychology. The earliest emergence of criminological thought began in Europe, and its clearer and more complete expression was developed by several contemporary criminologists such as Cesare Beccaria, Jeremy Bentham, Enrico Ferri, Cesare Lombroso, and Raffaele Garofalo. In addition, the name of the Indian criminologist Dr. Panchanan Ghoshal deserves special mention. In his book Criminology (1963), he primarily divided criminology into three branches, among which the psycho-analytical theory under criminal psychology or psychological criminology is particularly significant. In this context, the concepts of Id, Ego, and Super Ego proposed by the renowned philosopher Sigmund Freud in his psychoanalytic theory are especially noteworthy. As a result, the crimes committed by the criminals in the detective novel Sarbanashini (2019) by novelist Sayantani Putatunde, and the subtle psychological analysis of those crimes, form the central theme of my article. Through a descriptive and analytical discussion, I aim to present the intricate artistry of criminal psychology, one of the most important branches of criminology or criminal science, as reflected in this novel. From the very beginning of the novel, a sense of ambiguity is created, where a recurring question arises—whether the criminal is a man or a woman. This is because in our so-called society, we are accustomed or conditioned to assume that any crime must be committed by a man. The possibility that a woman could be behind such crimes is usually considered only as an alternative or secondary thought. However, in the detective novel Sarbanashini, the criminal is ultimately identified as a woman. By utilizing her criminal psychological thinking and intelligence, she reveals her identity through her Facebook profile under the name “Sarbanashini” and commits multiple murders. Her real name, however, is Priya Bajaj. Driven by her own vengeful criminal mindset and intellect, she murders several prominent wealthy businessmen of the city. In addition, she also kills her own father Andrew Bajaj and her father-in-law Vijay Jaiswal. Thus, in the light of overall theories and facts, through an analytical discussion of Sayantani Putatunde’s novel Sarbanashini, I will attempt to highlight criminal psychology and the nature of criminal behavior as portrayed in the narrative. | ||
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