Through the lens of her jail experience and that of her fellow prisoners, Anuradha's vivid description takes us to the unknown and unseen world of women prisoners, their children, their day-to-day lives and their worldview of society as a larger prison even outside the jail.

Anuradha wonders what constitutes a crime. Who does the law protect? Are the laws of the land capable of rendering justice to classes and social groups that are exploited? Whether the existing laws are being implemented fairly?

At the end, the questions remain: What is a crime? Who is a criminal?