Crimes committed by women

Crimes committed by women, particularly theft and crimes of passion, have risen sharply in Russia, reflecting an alarming trend, a top law official has said.

About 49,000 women convicts are at present imprisoned in 46 female prisons in the country.

'I would like to point out an alarming trend: female crime has been steadily on the rise,' Russia's Deputy Prosecutor General Yevgeny Zabarchuk said Tuesday.

According to statistics, the most 'popular' crimes committed by women in Russia are theft, drug trafficking and crimes of passion.

The top law official also said over 4,000 people had died in the correctional facilities in 2009.

'Last year alone, 4,150 people died in correctional facilities. In the same period, 521 people died in pre-trial detention centres,' Zabarchuk said.

Russia has seven prisons, 657 correctional facilities for adults, including 160 penal colony settlements, and 62 juvenile correctional facilities.

There are currently 861,867 people imprisoned in the country's prisons, known for their overcrowding and high incidence of infectious diseases.

'This problem is deserving of particular attention,' he said.

'After all, the large majority of the inmates are not elderly people...but those at an age that should see them at the peak of their strength. Nevertheless, many of them do not live until their release date or come out disabled.'

'There is no modern medical equipment in many pre-trial detention centres,' he said, adding that in some facilities medical staff were entirely unqualified.