The India case study reveals a collusion between families, communities, and the state to subjugate and control women. In many Indian communities, customs and traditions cast women as "perpetual minors," always under the custody of men. When women threaten the established order by refusing to conform, asserting their rights, or challenging power structures, a custodial response is triggered.
"Care" institutions and prisons become sites where the state intervenes, relieving families and communities of dealing with these "troublesome" women. A feminist perspective exposes the ideological underpinnings of this "carceral logic": transgressive women have the inherent power to disrupt caste and patriarchy, so they are removed from society until they are reshaped into "docile bodies."
Over the past three decades, the state's custodial control over women has intensified, driven by neoliberal economics, majoritarian agendas, and the merging of religious and political goals to reimagine India as a Hindu state. Meanwhile, women's rebellion and resistance have expanded from challenging family and community norms to confronting the state itself. The widespread arrests and incarceration of young feminist activists—transgressive women by definition—highlight their central role in the nation's shrinking democratic space.