The stupid reasons why Delhiites kill each other
From stabbing a delivery guy who was late to beating a customer who complained about food, murders over trivial issues are on the rise. Is impulse killing Delhi’s new problem?
Himanshi.Dhawan@
timesgroup.com 01.04.2018
As if road rage weren’t bad enough, now even minor things like brushing against a person or an inconvenient delay seem to be provoking Delhiites into whipping out knives and guns.
Delhi Police data seems to confirm this. While the number of murders declined from 528 in 2016 to 487 in 2017, murders over trivial issues or sudden provocation as a cause rose from 16% to 18.6%.
What makes people turn violent over petty issues? One of the first studies to examine the differences between impulsive murders and premeditated crimes was conducted by Northwestern University in the US. “Impulsive murderers were much more mentally impaired, in terms of both their intelligence and other cognitive functions,” wrote Robert Hanlon, an expert in clinical psychiatry and neurology and senior author of the 2013 study.
Nearly all impulsive murderers have a history of alcohol or drug abuse and/or were intoxicated at the time of the crime — 93%, compared to 76% of those who strategised about their crimes.
Criminologist Rajat Mitra says most perpetrators in such cases experience “explosive rage”. “Such people are already deeply angry with themselves and the world and often suffer from impulse control disorder. Very often they consider themselves to be failures and victims.” And when a fight over a trivial issue occurs, it touches a raw nerve and acts like a trigger. Such people often report a feeling of calmness after the act. “Their vital signs like blood pressure go down and they experience a high,’’ says Mitra.
• Cannot live without your phone? One Delhi resident was willing to kill for it. Last week, 30-year-old Kamal Deep and her brother allegedly stabbed a Flipkart delivery man because the mobile phone she was supposed to get from the e-commerce site reached her 20 minutes late.
• Last month, Pawan Kumar, 30, was beaten to death with a ladle when he complained about the quality of food in an east Delhi dhaba.
• And a New Year eve’s party went sour for another Delhi resident Vinay Bhati, 30, who was shot and injured. His ‘crime’ was that he accidentally bumped against a man inside a tony south Delhi bar.
• In December, Rohit Saluja, 25, was attacked with knives by three men who tried to stop him from urinating in the open in Timarpur. The victim said he was first lectured on Swachh Bharat
• A month earlier, 24-year-old law student Ashish Bhardwaj, was shot dead after a man objected to his sitting on a park bench and asked him to leave. When Bhardwaj protested, there was an argument and the man pulled out a gun and opened fire.
From stabbing a delivery guy who was late to beating a customer who complained about food, murders over trivial issues are on the rise. Is impulse killing Delhi’s new problem?
Himanshi.Dhawan@
timesgroup.com 01.04.2018
As if road rage weren’t bad enough, now even minor things like brushing against a person or an inconvenient delay seem to be provoking Delhiites into whipping out knives and guns.
Delhi Police data seems to confirm this. While the number of murders declined from 528 in 2016 to 487 in 2017, murders over trivial issues or sudden provocation as a cause rose from 16% to 18.6%.
What makes people turn violent over petty issues? One of the first studies to examine the differences between impulsive murders and premeditated crimes was conducted by Northwestern University in the US. “Impulsive murderers were much more mentally impaired, in terms of both their intelligence and other cognitive functions,” wrote Robert Hanlon, an expert in clinical psychiatry and neurology and senior author of the 2013 study.
Nearly all impulsive murderers have a history of alcohol or drug abuse and/or were intoxicated at the time of the crime — 93%, compared to 76% of those who strategised about their crimes.
Criminologist Rajat Mitra says most perpetrators in such cases experience “explosive rage”. “Such people are already deeply angry with themselves and the world and often suffer from impulse control disorder. Very often they consider themselves to be failures and victims.” And when a fight over a trivial issue occurs, it touches a raw nerve and acts like a trigger. Such people often report a feeling of calmness after the act. “Their vital signs like blood pressure go down and they experience a high,’’ says Mitra.
• Cannot live without your phone? One Delhi resident was willing to kill for it. Last week, 30-year-old Kamal Deep and her brother allegedly stabbed a Flipkart delivery man because the mobile phone she was supposed to get from the e-commerce site reached her 20 minutes late.
• Last month, Pawan Kumar, 30, was beaten to death with a ladle when he complained about the quality of food in an east Delhi dhaba.
• And a New Year eve’s party went sour for another Delhi resident Vinay Bhati, 30, who was shot and injured. His ‘crime’ was that he accidentally bumped against a man inside a tony south Delhi bar.
• In December, Rohit Saluja, 25, was attacked with knives by three men who tried to stop him from urinating in the open in Timarpur. The victim said he was first lectured on Swachh Bharat
• A month earlier, 24-year-old law student Ashish Bhardwaj, was shot dead after a man objected to his sitting on a park bench and asked him to leave. When Bhardwaj protested, there was an argument and the man pulled out a gun and opened fire.
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