Motorist stabbed in road rage attack

Two youth of a city college were arrested for attempted murder after wounding a motorist for allegedly brushing against them while they were crossing the road.

Motorist stabbed in road rage attack

Two youth of a city college were arrested for attempted murder after wounding a motorist for allegedly brushing against them while they were crossing the road.

Frenzied: Experts say that displaced anger at something that happened
earlier in the day can also trigger violent behaviour. Representation pic

Unable to stop in time, the front of the vehicle brushed them. Sumith got out of the vehicle since the students were verbally abusing him, which led to an argument involving all four men, and then turned into an all out fistfight. Things took a turn for the worst when Ishad whipped out a sharp pocketknife and stabbed Sumit in the abdomen.

The commotion alerted the traffic police nearby, who realised what had happened and restrained the students and immediately notified Ashok Nagar police station. Sumith on the other hand, was rushed to St Philomena's Hospital, where he was treated in the ICU.

K Subhalaxmi, the doctor who treated Sumith, said, "A very sharp knife was used in the attack. We're not sure how deep the wound is, but he is in a critical condition." Sumith's family chose not to comment about throughout their ordeal and his cousin, S Sridhar, said, "We don't know who these two boys are. His entire family is dependent on him and he has an aging mother and a younger sister. We can only hope that the authorities do their job."

'Call the police'
Police authorities named Ishad's as the accused and Joshi as accomplice in the case. Both boys, originally from Kerala, had come to Bangalore a few years ago for higher studies. Sub Inspector B R Raghavendra said, "The boys are from a college in the city. Both parties started used foul language and then began a physical fight.

The accused claim that the other two started to assault them first." According to the victim, after he was stabbed, Ishad and Joshi challenged him saying 'call the cops'. Meanwhile, the two students have been arrested on attempt to murder and assault charges and will be produced in court today.

Expertspeak
MiD DAY spoke to experts in psychology to find out why perfectly normal persons are temporarily unable to control their anger, which causes fatal incidents of road rage. "It is low frustration tolerance. Such people are not able to withstand any argument. Highly impulsive people react like this if there is a deviation or disturbances in routine. Violent movies also drives such reactions in young people," said Dr Supriya Shankar, clinical psychologist.

C R Chandrashekar, Professor, NIMHANS, said, "There can be three reasons for such sudden outbursts of rage. It could either be displaced anger at something that has happened an hour ago, it could be the lack of alcohol in the blood stream of an alcoholic or the person could be mentally ill."

Some infamous Road rage instances

Film Producer survives road rage attack
On January 7, 2009, Kumar, a Kannada film producer was returning home on Horamavu Main Road, Banaswadi, when a Maruti Zen car collided with his vehicle while overtaking him. Kumar got out to inspect the damage and was verbally abused by the other driver and three associates and then attacked with machetes. He was found bleeding on the roadside later by a night patrol police party and rushed to hospital.

Minister's enraged son stones bus
A minister son was allegedly involved in a road rage incident in Gulbarga on March 3, 2011. He reportedly got enraged when a KSRTC bus driver did not allow him to overtake at Jewargi Colony. He allegedly brushed against the bus in an effort to pass and decided to teach the driver a lesson. He stopped his car ahead, threw stones at the bus and assaulted the driver. No complaint however, been filed in this regard.

With inputs from Prachi Sibal

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