01 September,2010 08:09 AM IST | | Salil Urunkar
With incidents of murder and suicide resulting out of illicit affairs rocking the city of late, the police are looking at the social factors that are making people without a criminal past turn to bloodshed. The alarming rise in extramarital affairs being reported to the Woman Grievance Cell (WGC) has made the police sit up realise there is a definite link between illicit affairs and the rise in murders and suicides.
An architect, Santosh Bhukan, was a few days ago arrested on charges of kidnap, murder and destruction of evidence after the police recovered from his farmhouse in Pondhe-Malshiras near Saswad the body of Vaishali Kadam, a 32-year-old woman who was a receptionist in his company. The police said Bhukan meticulously planned Vaishali's killing for over a month. Bhukan was married and allegedly did away with Vaishali because she was insisting he divorce his wife and marry her.
Such crimes are disturbing trend seen from several incidents reported in the city in the recent past.
Psychologists and marriage counsellors say people should take the marital relationship seriously and communicate well with their spouses, something which may not be happening with the demands of modern life.
"People like Bhukan are not professional killers but they have committed the crime out of some guilt, anger or dishonesty," said Dr Hemant Chandorkar. "Emotions dominate and play an important role in such cases.
Communication gap is the major reason behind discontent between a couple. During counselling, we stress on resolving the problems and insist the couples interact with other members of the family too."
He added that financial independence, social factors and work-related stress are the major factors responsible for extra-marital affairs.
Police Inspector (WGC) Mrudula Karvande said they received complaints of extramarital affairs almost every day.
"One out of four applications we receive daily are about extramarital problems," said Karvande. "It's a disturbing trend, but it is also a fact that financial independence has led to creating differences in the family. Cases like extramarital affairs and suspicion over character are referred to psychiatrists. In most cases, suspicion is unfounded.
Once the individual is convinced about it, our goal is achieved, but we are not successful every time."
