Open Forum
New Delhi, 9 September 2015
Why Did Indrani
Kill Daughter?
PERSONALITY
DISORDER OR MONETARY GAIN?
By Dhurjati Mukherjee
All eyes
are riveted on the former CEO of INX media Indrani Mukherjee who has been
accused of murdering her first daughter Sheena in April 2012. Married to
ex-Star India
CEO Peter Mukherjee, the killing was inadvertently brought to light late last
month when her co-accomplice, her driver was arrested for possession of an
illegal pistol who spilled the beans about the brutal murder.
Indrani
was then rounded up by the Mumbai Police wherein she confessed that Sheena was
indeed her daughter from her first live-in relationship and not sister as she
had proclaimed to the world. To hide her pregnancy, her parents in Gauhati had
adopted Sheena. She also added admitted that her co-partner in crime was her
second husband Sanjeev Khanna based in Kolkata. According to the Mumbai police
Indrani is proving to be a tough nut to crack and continues to parrot that
Sheena is in the US.
Questions
abound. Did Indrani kill Sheena for monetary gain as she was the benami holder
of her mother’s money? Or was it because her daughter wanted to marry Peter’s
son from his first wife?
Undeniably,
it does seem unfathomable that a mother could kill her own daughter but various
psychologists admit that there is reason behind the madness of a parent killing
their children. According to them murder is as old as history and various studies
have tried to understand the psychological causes of such an inhuman act. As
the Indrani-Mukherjee-Sheena Bora and Arushi Talwar killings underscores India
has many instances of parents murdering their children, which reveal not only the worst kind
of aggression but also great confidence to murder his or her own kid, cut the body
and bury or burn it elsewhere.
True, many believe that with the
spread of education, society has become more cultured and dignified. But the
prevalence of cases like these prove that a human being can do anything and
everything for his or her own interest, be it power, status or money. The
spread of materialist culture read greed for more can induce an individual to
go to any extent.
Some analysts believe that murder of
children or filicide is not rare as civilized society think as there are scattered
incidents across the globe. In India
there are innumerable instances a girl child being killed as the parents/family
want a boy or khaps/ parents who
murder a couple belonging to the same gotra.
Experts categorize filicide in three
sections: Neonaticide when a child is killed within a day of being born,
infanticide when the murder happens within a year and filicide when the child
is over a year old. Female infanticide is most common in our country given
parents craving for a boy.
It is generally believed that
mothers have great emotional bonds with her children which cannot be broken.
Though this might be the norm, psychologists argue that when one’s ambitions
and/or greed take an upper hand, a mother might not hesitate to sacrifice her
own children.
Notably, personal interests have
become more important in one’s life than emotions, understanding, affection and
duty towards the family. The complexities of life as seen in the Indrani-Sheena
case, wherein she was hungry for more status and ambition to reach the top, sacrificing
her daughter to achieve her objectives is quite simple. This is classically the
best manifestation of a crude materialistic attitude in an individual, very
different from our culture and values.
Clearly, the increase of such cases
reveals lack of education and that western influence has pervaded our society.
Aggression and violence, seen in politics has now permeated our social life in
a big way. The manifestation of violence in our societal life for something
material comes from a criminal instinct. Obviously, the all-round effects of
greed, jealousy and violence have combined to take away the human element from an
individual.
Psychologically speaking, a majority
who kill their children suffer from a form of diagnosable mental illness which
has been untreated. Not a few who might be economically underprivileged. Another
reason is mothers who have chronic depression turn against their children. A continuous
feeling of insufficiency and unexpected anger could build up over time and find
expression in extreme action --- killing one’s children.
According to Ohio Wright
State University’s
psychologist, mothers who kill their children tend to fall into five categories:
Kill a new born, murder through abuse, battered or coerced by a partner, murder
purposely and slaughter through neglect. Further, women who kill with a purpose
might have suffered some major loss, thereby becoming ruthless and are prone to
murdering with a gun or knife.
Psychologists also identify stress
of a nuclear family set-up coupled with extreme self-aggrandisement as factors which
turn some women towards violence. It has been found that in most cases of
extreme violence and aggression leading to physical harm, the mother might have
a severe personality disorder.
Indeed, world-wide murders and
suicides are increasing rapidly even as various justifications are doled out for
the same. Undoubtedly, this is a very unhealthy trend in our social life. But a
section of academics doubt this as they feel social life would wither away as
people are becoming increasingly self-centred, sans any feeling for the
community and society at large.
Besides, the education syllabus and
lack of cultural values of love, affection and fellow-feeling have not been
properly inculcated in an individual. Today’s young generation is a disgruntled
lot, dissatisfied with what they have and extremely jealous of those who earn
more. Moreover, there is very little happiness in most families which could be
attributed to material well-being and prosperity.
Importantly, a woman’s nature is
more complicated than a male’s which results in her having a higher tendency of
greed and jealousy. Be she an urban educated woman or from a rural background.
Furthermore, mothers are normally closer
to their sons while fathers veer towards their daughters. But as the Indrani case
highlights she allegedly murdered her daughter as also trying to poison her son.
However, sleuths aver that money power might have been a big factor.
Undeniably,
the ex-media czar had little love lost for either of her children and tried to
portray herself as Mumbai’s well-known socialite. This sort of attitude is
called borderline personality disorder, a condition marked by impulsive
behavior and instability of moods and emotions.
Indrani demonstrated
this attitude in achieving her objective of reaching the top of the ladder by
hook or by crook. Additionally, her three marriages and multiple physical
relationships were done for fulfilling her ambitions. According to a clinical
and forensic psychologist people with this condition initially appear to be
good but quickly develop intense anger to achieve their objective. ----INFA
(Copyright, India
News and Feature Alliance)
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