Delhi:
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.
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.
"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."
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.
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.
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.
DU girl 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.
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.
"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."
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.
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.
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.
DU girl 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.
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