Spouse-killing on the rise

In 2008, when Manoj, a techie, allegedly murdered his wife Lakshmi, also a techie, he made it appear it was a murder for gain. 

Though it was a high-profile case, it was dismissed as a stray incident. Two years down the line, police statistics reveal that spouse killing spouse is on the rise in Bangalore. 

Sample this: From January to October 2010, of the 142 murders registered in the city, spouses were behind the murder in over 45 cases. Alarmed by the development, police commissioner Shankar Bidari made public appeals: "If people cannot live together, get legally separated. Don't kill each other. Police will not spare you. In such cases, police can hardly do anything but arrest the culprits. There are no preventive ways as conspiracy to murder takes place within the four walls." 

"`By mid-October, the number of such murders has crossed 60. Though many of them are from lower middle class, it is surfacing among the middle class too. Desires of individuals are becoming stronger and they do not think about consequences," says Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Alok Kumar. 

"Society has changed and social values have collapsed. From joint family, we came down to nuclear family then to childless couples. People have become too self-centric and materialistic too," he says. 

It is not just husbands getting wives murdered __ women have not lagged behind. Honey Mary, who was married for three months, was charged of getting her husband Umesh Krishnan murdered with the help of her old lover. Ditto with Shubha of Byappanahalli who allegedly not only got her husband murdered by her paramour, but later got her paramour also murdered with help from another person, say police. 

"Some plan well and make it look like a murder for gain. Wherever there is sexual jealousy, they leave a clue behind," says Alok Kumar. 

PSYCHIATRISTS WORRIED 

The trend has alarmed psychiatrists too. "There has been a psychological disorder of infidelity and this trend is a new social challenge. There is no proper study conducted on the issue. But with available information, we are analyzing the trend and it is alarming," says Dr A Jagadish of Abhaya Hospital. 

The new economic independence of youngsters is one of the reasons. This empowers youngsters to make impulsive decisions, breaking social norms. Lack of parental supervision leads to such disasters. "As we have seen, no such cases have taken place after parental interference and supervision to counsel the children. More than 95 % of cases have taken place where there was no scope for supervision," says Dr Jagadish. 

"Worse, youngsters seem to be confident of wriggling out after committing murder, even if they are caught. This problem has to be addressed at four levels. First, at an individual level, secondly, family level, next, society level and lastly legal level. If youngsters are aware of the legal consequences, then they will think twice before indulging in such acts," he says.