MARIA MURDER AND SUICIDE

Hardback. Reprint of the 2nd Edn. (1972). With a Foreword by the late Sir W.V. Grigson. The author maintains it is of absorbing sociological and psychological interest to study the reasons that drive unsophisticated primitive men to kill and wound their fellows. In this book, after a brief sketch of Maria life and custom, the author examines the records of 100 cases of murder and 50 cases of suicide, and finally makes valuable suggestions for improving the treatment of aboriginal criminals in jail. The commonest motives for crime among the Bison-horn Maria are sexual jealousy and resentment or shame caused by public rebuke, but drunkenness and fatigue weaken self-control and also lead to murder sometimes. Chapter headings include : Crime in Aboriginal India; The Bison-Horn Maria; The Statistics of Violent Crime; The Causes of Violent Crime; The Causes of Crime: Witchcraft and Magic; The Causes of Crime: Marital Infidelity; The Causes of Crime: The Desire to Eliminate; The Causes of Crime: Disputes About Property; Crime in the Relationships of Family Life; The Crime of Revenge; The Crimes of Women; Criminal Lunacy; The Attitude of Society; The Aboriginal Prisoner; Conclusion + much more. Profusely Illus. + Line Drawings and Maps, Appendices, Bibliog., Glossary and Index. 259pp. 8vo. h/back. From the library of true crime writer, Wilfred Gregg, with his personal b/plate. F. in Vg+ dw. which has small sign of label removal to fr. cover.