By Quaid Najmi
Mumbai, Nov 20 (IANS): In the context of the brutal murder of a Palghar woman, Shraddha Walkar, by her partner in Delhi and the cutting of her body into multiple pieces, a leading Mumbai psychiatrist has urged the government to launch mental health and awareness courses among children from school. level.
“For starters, there may be a chapter in Science subjects on mental illnesses, their types, how they can be treated etc. It will remove the stigma associated with mental illnesses in India. Here, such patients are simply ridiculed as ‘paagal’ (lunatics), which is absolutely wrong,” said psychiatrist Dr. Sajid Khan.
Referring to the Delhi murder, Khan said that while one or both of them might have had some mental issues that need to be professionally assessed, he cautioned that no label should be given to defendant Aftab A. Poonawala’s action to avoid giving it any benefit.
Healthspring psychiatrist Dr. Sagar Mundada feels reports citing Poonawala as “highly confident”, “seemingly normal” and “not disturbed” are “indicators of a psychotic personality”, although reports suggest the actual motive behind its action eludes investigators. .
“It was probably an impulsive or even ruthless act… They must have argued bitterly first, then physically quarreled and he, being stronger, could have killed her in the heat of the moment. Only later he must have realized his action and then ‘meticulously planned’ how to erase crime by buying a huge fridge, chopping it up and disposing of it in installments,” Khan says.
Mundada feels their apparent “normalcy” points to mental health issues that may need full diagnosis, as many of these patients seem “very charming, with a kind of charismatic attraction” that can fool others…
“So despite their macabre acts, ‘in cold blood’ if you will, they seem to be unaffected as their ’emotions work differently’ than normal people,” Mundada said.
Suspecting it to be a form of “delusional disorder”, Khan says this case, or others like it, need a thorough investigation for mental health issues and analysis before reaching a conclusion.
“In modern times, young people are becoming financially independent, highly aware, making their own decisions on various issues, or there may also be some ‘addiction angle’ that often triggers such heinous crimes,” Khan explained.
Prior to the Shraddha murder in Delhi, Maharashtra has been rocked by several such cases in recent years, in some cases even abandoned women have been to blame.
In February 2020, a spurned lover allegedly dumped gasoline on and burned a 24-year-old university professor, Ankita Pisudde, on the road in public view, in Wardha. She died after a week and the defendant Vikesh Nagrale was arrested.
A contrasting incident came to light in February 2022 when a 25-year-old man, Gorakh K. Bachhav of Lohoner, Nashik, was attacked with hot rods and allegedly set on fire by his 23-year-old lover after families on both sides opposed their marriage. The police arrested the girl and her family, while Bachhav survived the ordeal and now leads an almost normal life.
In Aftab’s case, mental health experts are not willing to risk calling him a ‘psycho-murderer’ or anything that might favor him during the trial and are awaiting the full police investigation and proper medical examination on him before commenting with authority. .
According to the version of the Delhi police, Aaftab, now in their custody, still seems unrepentant, eats and sleeps well in the cell, which experts say are signs of deep mental problems that need to be further investigated.
Both Mundada and Khan regret that there is no comprehensive research or reliable data on the types or extent of mental health problems afflicting Indians that can help analyze these cases scientifically to suggest timely preventative measures.
