During the past few years, we Nepalese have had to hear some very-psycho and some super-psycho news.
- Teacher admits killing 15-yr-old girl after rape in hotel room, Nepalnews.com, Aug. 26, 2011
- Girl killed after being kidnapped, Kantipur, Aug. 10, 2011
- दुइटै छोरीलाई जिउँदै खोलामा फ्यालेर हत्या गरेको बाबुद्वारा स्वीकार, Kantipur, २०६८ श्रावण २७ ०२:३८
- Decapitated head found, Republica, May 14, 2011
- Decapitated body of woman found in Balaju, The Himalayan Times, May 4, 2011
- कठै, यसरी मारेको रैछ पापीले ख्यातीलाई, Mysansar.com, Jul. 4, 2009
The list would go forever. But I won’t irritate you with too many of them.
The question is – did we hear these kinds of news before, say two decades back ? YES, we did. But definitely NOT AS MANY.
Twenty years ago, a single murder case used to make national headlines. Each case used to talked about in homes, tea-shops, offices, buses, and carrom-board games, and almost everywhere. It used to be sung during Teej. It would be sung by गन्धर्वs home to home.The nation would mourn and sympathize the victims.
Why are such brutal murder cases everyday news these days? What elements in our society have incited such crimes? What steps are necessary to minimize them in future ? Those are the aspects I shall discuss in this article. Note, for ease, the politically motivated crimes are out of scope of this discussion.
Maoist’s War
While the Maoist war started and ended for a totally different objective, the killings and suffering it brought changed the Nepalese social landscape forever. It not only displaced tens of thousands of people, but also made people hard-hearted, distrustful, and unfriendly. Gone are the days when साँझका पाहुना were भगवान, when walking during nights was not unsafe, and when strangers gathered warm smiles rather than suspicious looks. Maoist war left an impression on people that killing is not a big deal and that one can come away with it if he/she has money or people/mass in pocket.
Uncontrolled Urbanization
This is the root of several social problems of Nepal. Crime is no exception. Too many strangers with different standards of living, with their own values, accumulated in limited areas, in no time. This is comparable to the reaction inside a beaker with several chemicals poured into it simultaneously. In this scenario, even minor incidents can easily turn unnecessarily violent. Also, it becomes a perfect ground for organized crime.
Poverty and Unemployment
This is the main reason for crime and hooliganism. Poverty incites meanness, greed, anger, and all sorts of negative thinking. Plus, when people have nothing to do, they find ways to utilize their brain. In older days, the only way to do so used to be by time-passing in chiya-pasals and bhattis. Now, in cities, young and energetic jobless people are capable of more than guff-gaff and card-playing. When, the attitude is negative, then this potential can prove disastrous for the society.
Insufficient Moral Education
Nepalese education badly needs to include contents on morals and ethics in textbooks and courses. With the constant increase in population, higher criminal rates are inevitable unless people are educated to adjust themselves in the (newer) society. However, general attitude of typical Nepalese to people of different kind (to both foreigners and fellow countrymen of different race/sex/standard) is usually unhumble if not hostile. Also, Nepalese attitude are driven more by emotion than by reasons. To name a few emotion driven काण्ड: The Hritik-Roshan kanda, the destruction of the Kathmandu mosque after the murder of 12 Nepalese in Iraq, and the recent reaction that Tasleema Nasreen’s remarks on Nepal provoked on Nepalese cyber-youths. Without proper education and moral values inside each citizen, the Nepal cannot escape from crimes.
Impunity
Impunity does not directly incite a psycho-crime. However, it does send encouraging message to potential criminals. Criminals feel safe on their part to carry out illegal activities. Without checking all kinds of crimes – murder, corruption, etc – the society cannot prosper; without prosperity, crime rates do not fall.
There is a pattern in the example cases I listed in the beginning of this discussion – the victims are from weaker part of the society: children and young women. The perpetrators in such cases are mentally unsound, for otherwise they would not commit the crimes on first place. In the plight of Nepalese society (which I mentioned above), they find easy to amplify their temptation.
Hostile crimes are not uncommon in developed countries too. In fact, they are often much more violent and ruthless in matured societies. US citizens are victims of mass killings in universities and schools by often young and confused people. Recently, Norway saw a massive bloodshed on its soil. First world countries are prepared to battle such issues to prevent them from happening again. However, in case of Nepal, where we are fighting to solve basic problems, the above mentioned aspects need to be addressed. The other areas that need attention are: tighter law enforcement, stable governance, and higher morale for security forces.