Monday 26 May 2008

The Aarushi Story

I have been following this story quite closely ever since it happened. Initially it appeared like yet another story of cold blooded murder. It is indeed a cold blooded murder - or murder in cold blood?

For some reason, I have a habit of observing people. I observe people on street, in an elevator, within office, in a sweet shop, and even when I myself ain't aware of it. Its not that my observations always hit the bull's eye. Its not actually meant for that. My observation is limited to certain expected behavior, and my perception of how will a person react to a given circumstance. Try that, its fun. The more others speak, they allow a wider surface area for you to play on - or speculate. If they don't speak, their body language may provide some pointers.

Well, coming back to Aarushi's story - there are 2 theories doing the rounds. Either its an honor killing or its not.

These brutal, clinical, and extremely well executed murders are not only complex but its also confusing. Its complex because of the lack of(or the lack of knowledge of) motive, and its confusing because of Noida police. The senior police office was referring to Shruti instead of Aarushi the other day in a press conference. You call it slip of tongue, I call it negligence and lack of preparation. Its confusing because of their pivotal role in confusing the episode. The killer or killers got at-least 2 days to clear off their traces. It was after a couple of days that they "realized" that even the servant, Hemraj is murdered. The crime scene was almost set clear to be cleared.

The theories put forward for the possible "motive" behind the twin murder aren't convincing. Lets put sentiment aside and think rationally. Aarushi was constantly in touch with Anmol - her friend. She was only 14, and perfectly normal human being. Not to mention the fact that she must be ambitious as all other kids of her age. These and some other arguments that you have started to make up in your mind already - rules out any theory of Aarushi - Hemraj links. I won't call it absurd, but it doesn't seem feasible.

When I fear somebody, and once I am out of my mind, I will think of "resolving" the conflict. The resolution depends on the person at the receiving end. If you are suspecting the person for the murder of his own child, you need to know the person. You need to understand how he has behaved earlier when things went out of his hand. You will have to prove the ill nature of the person in question. Simply because there are no circumstantial evidence, and no eye witness. Nobody is standing against that person as he appears to be very popular as a well behaved person to them.

Its imperative that there are majority of people who tend to do things differently in public and in private - majority could be 99% but numbers don't matter. Can you prove that? If that person is not committing, there is no way you can prove it. What about hypnotism? Not a bad idea though. As nobody broke in to the house, so they think it has to be him. They think so because Hemraj himself was murdered, and the lady in the house can't have the same clinical precision. Hey wait, she is also a doctor. Alright, she doesn't have the physical ability and mental toughness to kill both. But how do you know that the suspect has both - physical ability and mental toughness?

If its just a sudden rush of blood that evoked such a murderous response - its indeed unimaginable. Equally unimaginable is the fact that he hadn't shown this kind of behavior earlier in other circumstances in a different way. Lots of thinking needs to be done, and lots of evidence needs to be gathered.

But, generally its a pointer towards the increasing restlessness among our people. There is always a better alternative than killing - it doesn't serve any purpose. You will be eventually caught and the secret that you always wanted to hide is unearthed. Lets calm our souls. There are lessons to be learnt from episodes like this.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Too often in supposed dishonor killings cases, when a post-mortem examination is conducted on the victim's body, there is no evidence whatsoever of sexual impropriety. For example, the World Bank looked at every single case of dishonor killing in Jordan in 1997 and found that 95% of the victims were virgins at the time of their deaths.

Accusing the victim of immoral behavior, though, can serve a larger purpose in evoking public sympathy and attaining lighter penalties for the perpetrator(s). Unless and until there is actual evidence, though, it behooves everyone to remain skeptical.

Ellen R. Sheeley, Author
"Reclaiming Honor in Jordan"