Delhi’s violent turn

Delhi's violent turn

Analysts say rising incomes and aspirations have emboldened a brash new middle class, widening the wealth gap between the nouveau rich and poor from rural areas, often resulting in violent clashes in the Capital

Why does this city of 15 million get so easily provoked? It's time for introspection for the nation's capital. Rising frustration, urban alienation and coveting of wealth, many feel, have resulted in senseless killings and violent crimes in Delhi over the past few months.

Keeping watch: Cops and onlookers at the site where . File pic

MiD DAY had reported yesterday how nine teenagers killed their friend, a 16-year-old schoolboy, over a trivial issue on March 12 at Srinivaspuri. The victim had been demanding the accused pay their share of the money that had been spent on a party. On March 8, a 20-year-old Delhi University student was shot dead in broad daylight near Dhaula Kuan, allegedly because the victim had once slapped the accused.

Radhika Tanwaru00a0was killed by a man on March 8 allegedly out of rage File pic

"If there is a history of violence in the family and the children are witness to the incidents then they react aggressively to even slightest provocation," said Vishal Girotra, Senior Consultant, Psychiatry at Fortis Hospital, Shalimar Bagh.

"Families are failing to pass on basic values to children. Working parents in nuclear families hardly spend any time with the kids and that is a great concern. Social norms are failing to be a deterrent. Even a good neighbourhood is missing," said Professor Vivek Kumar, Department of Sociology, JNU.

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. Last December, 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, a man killed a friend for refusing to hand over a cigarette. And in March a vendor killed a boy for taking some vegetables without paying. And the count is rising every other day.

"Such incidents take place because society is losing its level of tolerance. Whenever a matter is reported to the police, action is taken to bring the situation under control. We are unable to act if cases go unreported," said DCP, Crime, Ashok Chand. According to Delhi police statistics, 78 people died last year in the Capital "due to sudden provocation over trivial issues." Also, in the past five years, 382 murders were committed by "people who let their anger explode."

Bloody end: 16-year-old Yash Gupta was killed on March 12.

'Crime under control'
Delhi Police Commissioner BK Gupta recently claimed that the overall crime rate in the city has declined as compared to the rise in population."The crime rate has come down in 2010 as 301.49 crime (cases) per lakh of
population was registered against 306.37 last year," Gupta said, addressing the annual press conference of Delhi Police here. However, there has been an increase in the number of registered complaints in comparison to previous year. "The number of cases filed under the IPC (Indian Penal Code) in 2010 was 48,161 against 47,069 in 2009 (an increase of over 2 percent)," he said, adding that the increase was small in comparison to the rise in the city's population. Gupta admitted that there was a rise in rape cases in 2010. A total of 489 rape cases were registered last year as compared to 459 in 2009.

Go figure
527 homicides were recorded in Delhi in 2009 compared to 467 in 2007 before declining slightly to 519 last year. According to statistics released by Delhi police, 15 per cent of the killings last year resulted from spur-of-the-moment provocations.

Capital's hall of race
Schoolboy murdered
On March 12 a 16-year-old student of Cambridge School in Srinivaspuri area of Delhi was attacked and stabbed to death by nine of his friends. The culprits were angry because the victim, Yash Gupta, had complained to their family members that they owed him money and were not paying it back. When their relatives reprimanded them, the accused decided to settle scores with Yash. They intercepted him while he was on his way to his tuition classes. The boys started beating him up and then one of the accused stabbed him to death. All nine teenagers have been held and sent to a juvenile home.

Killed over mobile phone
On the same day, a 28-year-old man, furious after an argument with his mother over buying a mobile phone for him beat her to death with an iron rod. The incident took place in Harsh Vihar area of north Delhi on Saturday evening when Yusuf Ali attacked his 55-year-old mother Parveena Begum. Ali was arrested the next day, said police. "The house always remained tense as Ali used to frequently quarrel and fight with all his family members over petty issues as he had married against their wishes," a police official said.
Parveena, who was hit with the rod 30 times, suffered multiple wounds. She was taken to Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital where she succumbed to her injuries.

Man stabs parents
Also on March 12, a 30-year-old man, said to be mentally unstable, stabbed his parents with a kitchen knife as they refused to help him open a new shop. The incident took place in Janakpuri area of west Delhi on Saturday night. Rohit Kapoor has been detained while his parents, Ramesh Kapoor, 63 and Usha Kapoor, 59 are undergoing treatment at Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital. The woman's condition is said to be critical.

DUu00a0girl shot dead
On International Women's Day (March 8), 20-year-old Radhika Tanwar was shot dead not far from her south Delhi college in broad daylight. Investigators attributed the immediate trigger for the girl's murder on the foot-over-bridge outside Ramlal Anand College in Dhaula Kuan to an incident three days before her killing, when Vijay alias Ram Singh, the accused who has been arrested, was snubbed by Radhika when he approached her to strike a conversation. Police said Vijay 'nurtured deep grudge' against Radhika after he was beaten up for harassing her and used to tell his friends that whenever he got an opportunity, he would avenge the humiliation.

Pilot runs over man
In an incident of road rage, a young restaurant manager was killed in Khan Market on January 11, when a Jet Airways pilot allegedly ran his car over him after their vehicles collided. The police said the incident took place at around 1:50 pm after the cars driven by Vikas Aggarwal, the pilot, and Rajiv Jolly, a manager at a Khan Market restaurant, met with a minor collision at a traffic signal. Jolly came out of his car and allegedly entered into an argument with the pilot and thrashed him, a senior police official said. Jolly and Aggarwal are in their early thirties. Jolly was rushed to the hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.

Life lost for a screwdriver
In January, a teenager was stabbed to death by four persons after he refused to give them a screwdriver. The victim, 17-year- old Bilal, ran a mobile phone shop in North Delhi's Jafrabad area. On that fateful day, he was approached by four persons who asked him for a screwdriver. Bilal refused saying he did not have one. Hearing this, they dragged him out of his shop and started beating him. His elder brother, Afzal rushed to his rescue but he too was thrashed. They then stabbed Bilal to death.

Murder over chicken tikka
In December last, a young software professional was allegedly shot dead by a 36-year-old man after he accidentally knocked off a plate of chicken tikka. The incident occurred when the deceased Himanshu Batra and his three friends had gone to the Sector 17 DDA market of Rohini for food.

As Batra opened the door of his car, it hit one Surya Prakash who was coming by, and he dropped a plate of chicken tikka he was holding. This sparked an ugly brawl which ended when Prakash whipped out a pistol and fired at a stunned Batra from close range. The victim was shot in the stomach and chest, and died instantly.
Prakash escaped but left behind his vehicle, which later helped police to track him down. Police had seized a Maruti car, a pistol with two live cartridges and a spare magazine with three live cartridges from Prakash.

Anger management
The term anger management commonly refers to a system of psychological therapeutic techniques and exercises by which someone with excessive or uncontrollable anger can control or reduce the triggers, degrees, and effects of an angered emotional state. In some countries, courses in anger management may be mandated by their legal system. One strategy for controlling anger is finding agreement with another person rather than conflict. The use of deep breathing and meditation can be used as a means of relaxation. Other interventions include learning empathy, stress management skills, forgiveness, changing how you speak about yourself or others and improving optimism. Other approaches emphasise experiential exercises that enable changes in attitude reducing the tendency toward anger. As the issue of anger varies from person to person, solutions need to respect and build upon each individual's life experience.

Some descriptions of actions of anger management are:
*u00a0Direct - This would include making behavior visible and making communication clear. The end result is to not become resentful, but rather, be honest about the feeling of anger and what is causing it.
*u00a0Honourable - This includes identifying the moral basis for the anger, and being willing to dialog around the reason for the anger. In short, this includes taking responsibility for actions.
*u00a0Focused - This means staying with the issue of concern, and not bringing up irrelevant material.
*u00a0Courageous - This implies careful and thoughtful self-examination. Additionally, this means being willing to admit when one is wrong or when a reaction is inappropriate.
*u00a0Humility - This means seeking the truth instead of merely being defensive, and self-justifying.
*u00a0Forgiveness - This means acknowledging the wrong in someone else's behavior or words and then letting go of bitterness and resentment associated with that wrong.
*u00a0Listen - This means hearing the other person out, asking questions around their feelings and their reasons for their action.
*u00a0Thankfulness - This means finding elements related to the situation where one is genuinely appreciative and expressing that.

Manic Monday
One held for kidnapping teen
Police on Monday arrested one person and freed a teenager whom he had kidnapped . The accused identified as Surjit Singh had kidnapped a 16-year-old girlu00a0 from R K Puram area on March 3. An FIR had been lodged at RK Puram police station in this regard.

25-year-old raped
A 25-year-old woman was raped by her neighbour in the RK Puram area of South Delhi. Police said that the victim was alone at her home when her neighbour, identified as Subash, barged in and raped her. The victim was taken to All India Institute of Medical Sciences where a medical test confirmed the rape. The accused was later arrested.

Employers beat minor maid
Police arrested a woman and daughter from Moti Nagar area of the west Delhi for allegedly beating their domestic help. Police said that the duo had hired a minor girl some time back to get their household work done but they used to treat her badly often beatingu00a0u00a0 and abusing her . Following a complaint, the police arrested the duo but later released them on bail.