By Express News Service
The sheer brutality meted out to the victims by the accused in some of the recent murder cases is not only shocking but also extremely disturbing.
Dr Suresh Badamath, professor, Psychiatry, and head of Forensic Psychiatry, at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (Nimhans), Bengaluru, spoke to Bala Chauhan regarding this extreme form of violence. Excerpts from the interview:
What is the reason behind such gruesome crimes?One cannot generalise the reasons behind such extreme brutality and it is too early to come to any conclusion since all these cases are recent, and are under investigation. But while the modus operandi in each of these cases seems to have similarities, the reasons could be different, ranging from probable domestic violence (DV), intimate partner violence (IPV), extreme anger, disposal of evidence, social modelling from OTT serials and pleasure-related crimes to human sacrifice cases related to faith.
The underlying cause can be a combination of these factors. However, there is a lack of gender sensitivity since all victims are women. DV and IPV are gendered issues and have a very high prevalence.
Violence in live-in relationships is covered under the DV Act, of 2005. DV is a violent expression of power equation in which a woman is trapped, isolated from her parents and other support system and goes through the cycle of a ‘honeymoon period’ and extreme abuse by her spouse/partner, making it very difficult for her to come out of it. She also undergoes Stockholm Syndrome in which she begins to empathise with the abuser.
Murder itself is heinous. Why dismemberment of bodies?Hard to say. Reasons could range from rage and extreme revenge to easy disposal of dead bodies.
How do women come out of violent relationships?There has to be en masse gender sensitisation in the country. Women need to be empowered to believe from Day One of their relationship that violence is not a form of love. There must be a strong support system to help a woman in a coercive relationship. She should not be stigmatised for walking out of such a relationship.
If society remains conducive, violence against women will not stop. It is important to raise gender sensitivity among boys to become empathetic men. Most violence is observed as learnt behaviour. The abuser may have seen violence at home.
Are there enough forensic psychiatrists to analyse such behaviours?Unlike in the West, there is an acute dearth of forensic psychiatrists in India to carry out a mental assessment of the accused. There are no specialised training programmes in forensic psychiatry in India barring a post-doctoral fellowship initiated at Nimhans in 2016. Most forensic evaluations are done by the treating psychiatrist, who has little or no formal training in forensic psychiatry.
Brutal beyond belief
Shraddha Walker’s murder by her live-in partner Aaftab Amin Poonawala in Delhi is 3rd among 4 such crimes involving the gruesome killing and dismemberment of the bodies of the victims all women in India since June this year.
The latest case of alleged gang rape, murder and dismemberment of a female victim emerged in Gauri ka Pura in Paschimpatti, Azamgarh of Uttar Pradesh. There were reportedly no clothes on the victim’s head, arms and legs recovered from a well
The 1st such reported case in the last few months surfaced in the Mandya district of Karnataka in August. Siddaligappa and his partner Chandrakala allegedly killed 3 women in the span of 1 month. They severed the body of the last 2 victims using a knife for “easy disposal,” sources had told this daily
Last month, 3 accused Mohammed Shafi and a therapist couple Bhagaval Singh and his wife Laila were arrested for the murder of 2 women in Kerala as part of “ritualistic human sacrifice for financial prosperity,” said the police. Chopped body parts of the deceased were exhumed from Singh’s backyard at Elanthoor village in the Pathanamthitta district. The breasts of one of them had been chopped off and the body of the other was reportedly cut into 56 pieces.
The sheer brutality meted out to the victims by the accused in some of the recent murder cases is not only shocking but also extremely disturbing.
Dr Suresh Badamath, professor, Psychiatry, and head of Forensic Psychiatry, at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (Nimhans), Bengaluru, spoke to Bala Chauhan regarding this extreme form of violence. Excerpts from the interview:
What is the reason behind such gruesome crimes?
One cannot generalise the reasons behind such extreme brutality and it is too early to come to any conclusion since all these cases are recent, and are under investigation. But while the modus operandi in each of these cases seems to have similarities, the reasons could be different, ranging from probable domestic violence (DV), intimate partner violence (IPV), extreme anger, disposal of evidence, social modelling from OTT serials and pleasure-related crimes to human sacrifice cases related to faith.
The underlying cause can be a combination of these factors. However, there is a lack of gender sensitivity since all victims are women. DV and IPV are gendered issues and have a very high prevalence.
Violence in live-in relationships is covered under the DV Act, of 2005. DV is a violent expression of power equation in which a woman is trapped, isolated from her parents and other support system and goes through the cycle of a ‘honeymoon period’ and extreme abuse by her spouse/partner, making it very difficult for her to come out of it. She also undergoes Stockholm Syndrome in which she begins to empathise with the abuser.
Murder itself is heinous. Why dismemberment of bodies?
Hard to say. Reasons could range from rage and extreme revenge to easy disposal of dead bodies.
How do women come out of violent relationships?
There has to be en masse gender sensitisation in the country. Women need to be empowered to believe from Day One of their relationship that violence is not a form of love. There must be a strong support system to help a woman in a coercive relationship. She should not be stigmatised for walking out of such a relationship.
If society remains conducive, violence against women will not stop. It is important to raise gender sensitivity among boys to become empathetic men. Most violence is observed as learnt behaviour. The abuser may have seen violence at home.
Are there enough forensic psychiatrists to analyse such behaviours?
Unlike in the West, there is an acute dearth of forensic psychiatrists in India to carry out a mental assessment of the accused. There are no specialised training programmes in forensic psychiatry in India barring a post-doctoral fellowship initiated at Nimhans in 2016. Most forensic evaluations are done by the treating psychiatrist, who has little or no formal training in forensic psychiatry.
Brutal beyond belief
Shraddha Walker’s murder by her live-in partner Aaftab Amin Poonawala in Delhi is 3rd among 4 such crimes involving the gruesome killing and dismemberment of the bodies of the victims all women in India since June this year.
The latest case of alleged gang rape, murder and dismemberment of a female victim emerged in Gauri ka Pura in Paschimpatti, Azamgarh of Uttar Pradesh. There were reportedly no clothes on the victim’s head, arms and legs recovered from a well
The 1st such reported case in the last few months surfaced in the Mandya district of Karnataka in August. Siddaligappa and his partner Chandrakala allegedly killed 3 women in the span of 1 month. They severed the body of the last 2 victims using a knife for “easy disposal,” sources had told this daily
Last month, 3 accused Mohammed Shafi and a therapist couple Bhagaval Singh and his wife Laila were arrested for the murder of 2 women in Kerala as part of “ritualistic human sacrifice for financial prosperity,” said the police. Chopped body parts of the deceased were exhumed from Singh’s backyard at Elanthoor village in the Pathanamthitta district. The breasts of one of them had been chopped off and the body of the other was reportedly cut into 56 pieces.
