09 Mar 2021 | 04:16am IST
Frustration is leading to ‘grudge crimes’ in Goa
The brutal murder of a jeweller not so long ago shook everyone to their core and now the double murder of two family members begs the question, how did violence and brutality increase to such an extent in Goa? Café spoke to people to get an idea
These are scenes not regularly witnessed on the streets of Goa. A jeweler was murdered on its streets in Margao, a criminal being chased by men intent on killing him and then earlier on Monday morning the discovery of the two bodies of senior citizens in their residence brings home the fact that violence and brutality is now a resident in Goa.
This was never the case in Goa. Petty crime was a given due to the presence of a large number of visitors both domestic and international through the year. But this is different. Dr Ravindra Agarwal a mental health professional based in Vasco said these were all indications of the ills of urbanisation. He said “Overcrowding happens and these things happen. It has nothing to do about our culture. Cities have more crimes than rural areas. This is from a sociological standpoint but from a psychological standpoint there is frustration among people. When people are faced with such situations they experience stress. Experiencing hardship and not being able to do anything about it results in simmering anger.” He went on to say that anger was not directed at one person and sometimes events played out with people displaying excessive violence. People, he said, were frustrated and situations like this gave them a reason to vent out. The present level of unemployment and the absence of a basic social structure had resulted in an increase in crime.
Another mental health professional based in Panjim, Dr Brahamand Cuncolienkar was even more categorical when he said the Covid pandemic had ensured that there was no more security for anyone with a job. People had to beg, borrow or steal to survive. People were now willing to go to any extent even attacking their own relatives. The easy availability of smart phones, he said made it very easy to access porn sites which excited them sexually. The problem of not having money could be seen in the paper every day. He said “There are reports of robberies every day. These people conduct a recce during the day and they learn which house is empty, who is living where and in the night they conduct the robbery. These days we also don’t have local help to do minor repair work and so we have people from outside who do these jobs for us increasing the possibility of robberies. Then the more important thing is that there is no fear of law these days. They know they can get away with anything. There is also easy access to drugs. These are the reasons for the sorry state of affairs.”
However a man who deals with the legal machinery everyday had an entirely different take on the situation. Advocate Amey Prabhudessai said one had to understand that crime committed by an individual due to circumstances sometimes happens at the spur of the moment. However crimes, due to grudges were very serious and this was now emerging as a serious problem in Goa. He said “Some groups want to emerge as a superpower in an area and indulge in such behavior. With regards to money in Goa, it is all about showing off. If someone does something grand in the north then someone from the south may want to emulate or surpass it. I blame the police for all this. They have been keeping a check of these things. There are so many cops now in various police stations with various designations but nothing is happening. Control has to be maintained. I don’t think this is happening.”
Devika Mangaldas psychologist who practices in Porvorim said it was obvious the crime rate had increased. This was due to frustration and a lot of anger which was in people. She said she was also dealing with a lot of relationship concerns. Devika said “The pandemic has had an effect on aggressive patterns. But one has to realise that there was a marginal increase in every year and in 2020 it was slightly more than last year. The psychological pressures had increased”.
The instances of crime have increased and the brutality with which some have these crimes have been committed make for sad reading. One can only hope the situation improves because if this persists Goa will not remain that idyll of peace that it once was. That would certainly be a tragedy.
