Surge in crimes of passion keeps shaking Jharkhand's conscience

SHAMBHU NATH CHOUDHARY

Ranchi, June 4 (IANS) The Jharkhand Police on May 3 recovered parts of a human body from Sahibganj district of the state.

On the next day, police revealed that the dismembered body parts were of Maloti Soren, an anganwadi worker. The victim was murdered by her husband, Talu Kisku, and his three accomplices.

Kisku allegedly murdered his wife, chopped the body in to pieces, and dumped them at different locations in the forest near Chatki village under Borio police station of the district.

Last year on December 16, a similar incident took place in the district.

A member of a tribal community, Rebika Pahadin's body was also found in a similar manner. Her husband, Dildar Ansari, was also the prime suspect in the murder case.

Ansari, who had a love marriage with the victim around a month and a half ago, allegedly killed the victim.

The accused along with his mother and maternal uncle chopped the deceased in 50 pieces and dumped them at different places.

Similarly, last year on August 22, a man identified as Shah Rukh and his accomplice Naeem recently set Class 12 student Ankita Singh on fire after pouring petrol on her in Jharkhand's sub-capital Dumka.

The main accused Shah Rukh, who was in 'love' with the victim, had been troubling her for the past few months.

The accused even gave death threats to Ankita over phone and a few hours later, he poured petrol on the victim through the window of her room and set her on fire.

Lakhs of people across the country, especially on social media, expressed anger over the incident after a video of the accused laughing while he was being taken to jail surfaced.

Last year on June 29, Kanhaiya Singh was murdered on the steps of his house in Jamshedpur.

The SIT constituted by the police revealed a shocking tale -- the victim's daughter Aparna Singh along with her lover Rajveer Singh hatched the plot for the murder as she considered him an obstacle to their love.

Aparna gave a diamond ring gifted by her father to Rajveer to sell for arranging the money to be given to a shooter. She guided the shooter about her father's activities over the phone to help him with the murder.

In June 2022, a girl identified as Chanchal Kumari along with her lover killed her younger brother, Rohit, and buried his body in the quarters in Patratu of Ramgarh district where she lived alone. The police confirmed the matter several weeks after the incident.

Several incidents similar to such "crimes of passion" have been coming to the fore in Jharkhand almost every other month.

DSP Vikas Chandra Shrivastava, posted at the Investigation Training School of Jharkhand Police, said that it is difficult to prevent such incidents through policing.

He said the criminals who plan such crimes by sitting inside their homes cannot be kept under police surveillance.

"It is definitely the police's responsibility to gather evidence in such cases, to prepare strong chargesheets and show readiness in getting the criminals punished by the courts. If speedy trials are held and strict punishments are given, it would definitely create a sense of fear among the criminals," added Shrivastava.

Dharmendra Kumar, lecturer of psychology at Kolhan University, said that one of the major reasons behind the increase in such crimes is personality and mental disorders due to complicated lifestyles.

The result of anger, excess of emotions and impractical aspirations dominating the youth and teenagers is being seen behind such incidents, he added.