Image depicting a crime scene. For representational purposes.
Credit: iStock Photo
Thiruvananthapuram: Familicide and parricide cases are almost becoming a routine affair in Kerala, the latest being the killing of five near-and-dear ones by a 23-year-old youth here on Monday.
Of late, Kerala has witnessed several incidents of parents being killed by their children. While a 25-year-old son killed his mother at Thamarassery in the Kozhikode district last month, a 28-year-old son killed his 70 year old father at Vellarada on the suburbs of Thiruvananthapuram earlier this month.
In the Thamarassery murder, Ashik who killed his mother Subaida was found to be a drug addict who used to demand money from his mother. In the Vellarada incident, the accused Prejin was suspected to have been under the influence of 'black magic' after he could not complete his MBBS studies in China.
The brutal killing of five family members, including his parents and sister, by a youth in Thiruvananthapuram city in 2017 also bore similarities to the two cases above.
Psychiatrists say that over the last couple of decades, there have been visible changes among the youth due to the influence of the digital world, changing lifestyles and social scenarios. Social disconnect and impulsive behavior are the negative outcomes of these changing scenarios and drug abuse is an aggravating factor.
According to Dr Arun B Nair, professor of psychiatry at the Government Medical College,Thiruvananthapuram, addiction to digital devices leads to social disconnect among the youth as they find more happiness from the digital world rather than through social interactions.
Digital options to satisfy needs and desires swiftly without much effort is leading to impulsiveness and lack of tolerance. It also affects people's thinking process.
Additionally, easy access to violent content and video games, as well as drug abuse can be factors that, in combination with the above, lead to heinous crimes, Dr Nair said.
Psychiatrists suggest constant interaction of parents with children to identify bad influences and general mental health literacy in society as possible solutions to the rising incidences of familicide and parricide.
Kerala had earlier witnessed heinous mass murders, like when a woman, Jolly, murdered her family members by mixing cyanide in food. But those were well-planned murders carried out over a period of time, as opposed to mass murder.
A series of incidents of dejected lovers committing murders have also been cited by experts as instances of lowering levels of tolerance in society.