Last month, the national capital witnessed at least six incidents — the highest in a month this year so far — of rage crimes or murders under sudden provocation over trivial issues.
These crimes have been perpetrated for reasons such as disputes over parking space, not paying for cigarettes, playing loud music, grazing cars or cycle rickshaws on the road and the price of a commodity, among others. They also include drunken quarrels over matters such as speaking ill about someone’s wife or girlfriend, police said.
Senior police officers said every year, over 18%-19% murders take place due to “sudden provocation over trivial issues”.
According to police data, 379 murder cases have been registered till October 31 while 640 cases of attempt to murder have been lodged till the same period.
Traffic police officers said last year, 32 cases of road rage were reported while this year, 16 such incidents have been recorded so far.
Police said in 2018 too, 21% of the total murder cases were due to “sudden provocation” while 38% were due to personal enmity. Moreover, 11% of the murders were crime related and 11% crimes of passion. In most cases this year, a knife or a sharp object such as a blade constituted the most used weapon.
‘Low on patience’
Several officers The Hindu spoke to said such crimes are not preventable as they have more to do with an individual’s hot-headedness at the time of the incident rather than strict law enforcement mechanisms.
“Nowadays there is no patience left among the public... everyone is in a hurry and murders have taken place if someone is not given a parking space or is holding up the traffic on the road,” said DCP (Outer District) Parvinder Singh.
“A fast-paced lifestyle, economic imbalance in society and constant work pressure also prompt a person towards taking such a step,” said Dr. Samir Parikh, psychiatrist at Fortis Healthcare.
