A look at the increasing intolerance and grievous violence in a society, where people tend to fly off the handle for trivial reasons
A look at the increasing intolerance and grievous violence in a society, where people tend to fly off the handle for trivial reasons
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Just recently, Mumbaikars woke up to depressingly familiar headlines.u00a0Nidhi Gupta, a 31-year-old Chartered Accountant (CA), hit the headlines committing suicide along with her two children.
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While some suspected domestic violence was the provocation, others suggested it was a case of dowry harassment.
Days later, a pregnant woman was brutally murdered and her body was later found stuffed in a suitcase. Psychologists and sociologists say that these are an indicator of the increasing violence in our society.
Experts say that increased aggression, zero tolerance, domestic violence and insecurity are some major factors making the violence graph go up.
Students
Parents seem to get more worried as incidents of violence are on the rise. Jharna Phawani is a concerned mother. She does not allow her 10-year-old son Dev to watch video games, some of which, she believes, are violent.
But she wonders, how long she will be able to shield her son from pernicious influences. For now, though, Phawani makes sure her son gets exposed to the right kind of environment so that he grows up learning how to handle pressure.
Says Phawani from Santacruz (W), "We don't put pressure on our child at all and completely allow him to express himself. As far as video games are concerned, we allow him to play cricket only." As a precautionary measure, she has asked her son to keep away from strangers and instructed him to speak to people he knows.
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"He can't go outside the building without our permission. My husband and I are careful about what we talk at home. We are careful that he doesn't hear us talking on any subject related to violence," explains Phawani.
Hemang Tejas Mehta is worried, because her 11-year-old daughter is a big fan of television serials. "My in-laws watch a lot of television. I don't want my daughter to watch too much of television. She is very young and might just pick up something from these serials," says Mehta. However, for her daughter's safety, Mehta makes sure that she doesn't venture out alone.
Concern
While parents are concerned about safety of their children, schools are worried about the psychological well being of children. Counsellors in schools are coming across cases related to Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in children. Such children are hyperactive and aggressive by nature.
Seher Pathan, counsellor at Holy Name High School in Colaba, says, "Lots of kids watch World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) on television. Even 4-year-olds watch WWE. They stand on benches and actually play games, where they try and emulate their favourite WWE stars. Even cartoons are aggressive nowadays." Stress, peer pressure and heavy workload are some of the causes for the enhanced level of aggression amongst kids.
"Fourteen-year-old girls are conscious that they should look their best in school. If somebody calls them obese or fat they react very aggressively," says Pathan. She reveals how worried parents come to school guardedly, to discuss their children's problems. "Most of them are afraid that the child might commit suicide if he/she comes to know that their parents had come to visit us."
Factors
While competitive exams are a major reason for increased aggression among children, other factors, such as lack of rest and tension, also adds to the problem. Says child psychologist, Dr Zirak Marker, "Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD is a pattern of disobedient, hostile, and defiant behaviour towards authority figures) compounded with ADHD and over stimulation can make a child more aggressive. Apart from this, learning disability can also result in violent behaviour."
Such behaviour can even be noticed in children with an above average IQ. Explains Marker, "I remember a case, where a child studying in Class 2 was disrupting the class. What we found out was, the child had no learning disability but his IQ was very high. In such cases a child would not get stimulated enough and engage in disruptive behaviour."
Marker agrees that cases related to violence and aggression have been increasing in the past few years. "I see 15-20 such cases every week," he concludes.
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School authorities, in fact, have started organising yoga and meditation classes to help children overcome this problem. "Role reversal exercises can help them a lot. In such exercises, children are asked to control a classroom. It is then, when they realise what they are doing is wrong," concludes Pathan.
The aggressiveness can also be used in a constructive manner. Hence kids are asked to join karate classes and activities which they enjoy doing.
Survey
It is not just young and impressionable minds that are prone to aggression. According to the last National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3), in 2005-06, more than half of women and men agree with one or more reasons that justify wife beating.
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Both are most likely to agree that wife beating is justified if a woman disrespects her in-laws and if she neglects the house or children. Advocate Geeta T Budhrani says that domestic violence can result due to many reasons.
From the feeling of revenge to jealousy, the trigger could be anything. Says Dr Harish Shetty, psychiatrist, "the triggers may be trivial tiff with a sibling, friend, commuter in a train or an auto driver on the road."
In one such extreme case, recollects Shetty, a 50-year-old commuter pushed one of his co-passengers out of a running train for a flimsy reason, he flew into a rage after the man stepped on his toe accidentally. "This man had not shown any aggressive behaviour in the past.
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We found out that he was a banker and was under tremendous work pressure. Lately, he had started misbehaving with his family members but the worst was that he never regretted the incident," says Shetty. The anger and frustration can be directed toward oneself or others. "Some may resort to alcohol and get addicted to drugs," says Shetty.
Doctors
It is not only parents and teachers who are concerned with the increasing violence. Even doctors in hospitals are not spared. In a recent case of vandalism and manhandling of doctors, relatives of a patient ransacked Shatabdi Hospital in Borivli and attacked the doctor on duty alleging medical negligence. Such incidents have also been reported in the past.
Says Dr Pankaj Nalawade, President, Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD), Central, "Local political parties are the ones who create problems.
Nidhi Gupta threw her two children from the 19th floor of their building in Malad, and then herself leapt to death
The casualty ward has very few doctors and especially in government hospitals there is a huge inflow of patients. Hence, sometimes a doctor cannot give equal attention to all the patients who come in." The problem Nalawade says, arises when relatives of patients take help from political parties and threaten doctors.
The problem also arises due to inadequate number of security personnel deployed in the hospitals. "In government hospitals, there should be workers deployed by the BMC to take care of such a situation but most of these posts are vacant.
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In KEM there are 39 posts lying vacant; in Sion there are 27 posts lying vacant and in Nair there is a requirement for 25 security personnel," elaborates Nalawade.
According to officials, these posts, which are vacant, are given to various private security agencies on a contract basis. "In such cases, the feeling of ownership is lacking," explains Nalawade.
Reasons
Many are upset at the alleged non-implementation of an act intended to protect doctors from attacks by aggrieved patients and their families. The Maharashtra Medicare Service Persons and Medicare Service Institutions Act, 2009, makes vandalism of hospital property and all acts of violence against Medicare Service Persons punishable and non-bailable crimes.
It provides for imprisonment up to three years and a fine of up to Rs 50,000. Laments Dr Shivkumar Utture, President, Indian Medical Association, Mumbai, "there is less awareness about this act which can act as a deterrent and prevent such attacks on doctors."u00a0
Another reason that Utture thinks is lack of communication between the patients and doctors. "From this year, we will introduce a communication course as part of the MBBS curriculum. The course will emphasise effective communication between doctors, patients and their relatives," says
Utture.
Cases
>>u00a0 More than 50 school childrenu00a0 headed for a picnic to Madh Island in January, thought their end was imminent when a 40-year-old man whipped out a rifle and threatened to kill them in Bandra. Jaideep Singh Garewal, a businessman, was in his military green jeep when the bus, carrying students from St Anne's High School, allegedly blocked his way around Pali Hill. He shouted at the bus driver to move and got into a verbal duel with him when he refused. The situation spun out of control when an irate Garewal whipped out a rifle from under his seat and pointed it at the driver and the students. Janet Joseph Putino, the principal of the school, made a frantic call to the Khar police. Putino told them that she feared the students could be killed in a possible shootout.
>>u00a0 On January 11, a slight scratch to his car drove an airline pilot to towering rage, making him drive his car over the offending driver four times in the upscale Khan Market in south Delhi when thousands of shoppers were present. The previous day, four men had killed a 17-year-old boy in northeast Delhi after he declined to give them a screwdriver, which he reportedly didn't have. In December 2010, a man shot and killed a call centre worker in New Delhi for accidentally pushing him and spilling his plate of chicken tikka. In July 2010, a
man killed a friend for refusing to hand over a cigarette. In March, this year,u00a0 a vendor killed a boy for taking some vegetables without paying. The count is rising every other day.
Numbers
The Mumbai police recently declared, in a press conference, that there was an increase in the number of crime cases in the city since 2009. "There was an increase in crime with the population going up and more and more people coming in the city," said former Mumbai Police Commissioner Sanjeev Dayal in a press conference. According to police data, crimes like murder, attempt to murder, robbery, chain snatching and crime against women increased in 2010. The city also saw an increase in cases like rape of minors, molestation, dowry deaths, Dayal said.
Casesu00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0Crime
2009 >>u00a030,987
2010 >>u00a033,645
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