Biography

Being born and brought up in India, where crimes against women are inescapable realities, I had always wanted to pursue a career in the area of criminal justice reform. My professional stint as a journalist further deepened my interest in this area and motivated me to pursue an MA in Social Work in Criminology and Justice from Tata Institute of Social Sciences. As part of my academic journey, I conducted field work in correctional settings in the area of legal aid, gender equity and penal reform. Post my Masters degree, I started working for an anti-human trafficking organisation, conducting rescue operations of children from child labor, domestic servitude and sex slavery. In 2018, I completed my MPhil in Criminological Research from the University of Cambridge where I explored prison intimacies as a form of resistance for women in India. The following year, I worked as a Chief Minister's Urban Leadership fellow in the Delhi government providing analytical support in formulation of policies related to women. Since October, 2019, I am pursuing a PhD in Criminology at the Institute of Criminology exploring women’s imprisonment and resettlement experiences in India through the lens of their intimate relationships. I intend to explore the ways in which women use informal communication channels and social networks inside prison to find new alliances for love, and the myriad ways in which these practices transcend into prison policy and reform. My study hopes to enhance the current understanding of prisons in a non-western context and enable policymakers to frame policies that are gender-responsive to the specific needs of women in India and elsewhere. Apart from this, I am also the founding member of the Cambridge Decolonising Criminology Network which aims to bring together students, researchers and eminent scholars in the field of criminology and related fields to discuss and engage with decolonial thoughts and perspectives. The network largely aims at installing colonial structures of power at the centre of the contemporary criminological debate and encourage more scholarly, indigenous voices from the non-west. Set up in January 2020, the network currently has more than 50 active members and contributors.

Previous Education

University of Cambridge Criminological Research 2018
Tata Institute of Social Sciences Social Work (Criminology) 2015