In February, the Visakhapatnam police were baffled while investigating the death of G. Lakshman (50), whose body was found on the railway tracks. Was it an accident or a suicide? They had the same questions in mind when they found the body of K. Pentayya in the shallow waters of the Fishing Harbour.
They were wrong on both counts. Both men were victims of crimes of passion — a rising trend in Andhra Pradesh.
The police were struck by the injury marks on Lakshman’s neck. The medical examiner confirmed that his death had occurred due to strangulation before his body was mowed down by train. This led the Railway Police to sift through Lakshman’s call records and those of his family.
They found that Lakshman’s wife, Lakshmi, spoke frequently to Ramana, an autorickshaw driver. Ramana, a resident of the same locality, became friends with Lakshmi and took to visiting her whenever Lakshman, who worked for a private firm, left home for work. Soon, the friendship developed into an illicit relationship.
When Lakshman discovered that his wife was having an affair with Ramana, he warned Lakshmi. Ramana and Lakshmi thought eliminating Lakshman was the perfect solution to their ‘problem.’ With help from two others, they strangled him and threw his body before a speeding train, hoping that the police would be misled into believing that Lakshman had committed suicide. Ultimately, the four were arrested and they confessed.
In Pentayya’s case, it emerged that he had died drunk. There was a lot of alcohol in his body, which was revealed during the autopsy. But the police were struck by an injury mark on his head. Investigations led them to the truth: On February 20, Pentayya and Naresh had gone to an unfrequented part of the Fishing Harbour for drinks. The two were friends. Naresh, a fisherman, would be out at sea for four to five days at a stretch. During his absence, Pentayya sweet-talked Naresh’s wife into an affair.
Extreme angerWhat started as concern for a lonely woman turned into friendship and, then, a relationship. Initially, Naresh suspected that something was fishy between his wife and friend. Soon, his suspicions were confirmed. He decided to kill Pentayya. On that fateful day, Pentayya was liberally offered drinks. He drank so much that he fell unconscious whereupon Naresh whacked him on his head with a wooden plank to make sure that Pentayya remained unconscious, and then had pushed him into the water.
Lakshman and Pentayya’s murders were not the only ones stemming from sexual jealousy. Of the 14 murders that were committed in Visakhapatnam city this year, the motive behind eight turned out to be illicit relationship.
The profiles mostly related to middle class and lower-middle class segments. This is also true, the police have found, in several parts of Andhra Pradesh.
Indeed, the latest report of the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) shows that Andhra Pradesh ranks second in the country when it comes to murders with sexual jealousy as motive. Out of the total 1099 murders recorded in 2015 in A.P., about 198 were categorized under this tag, besides love affairs that led to 14 killings. Disconcertingly, the trend is rising. In 2014, out of 1,175 murder cases, the motive behind 111 was sexual jealousy and, in 2013, in the undivided State, of 2,484 murders, 385 fell under this category.
Maharashtra leads with 214 cases followed by Andhra Pradesh with 198 cases, Uttar Pradesh (190), Telangana (156), Bihar (125), Madhya Pradesh (113), Tamil Nadu (123) and Punjab (103). But when it comes to killings due to love affair, Uttar Pradesh leads with 383 cases, followed by Tamil Nadu (175), Bihar (140), Gujarat (122) and Madhya Pradesh (109).
According to the Visakhapatnam Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime), T. Ravi Kumar Murthy, murder attributed to sexual jealousy has been rising steadily in the city accounting for as much as 60 per cent of the murder cases in the bustling port city.
In terms of numbers, there were 24 murders in this category in 2013, 28 in 2014 and 26 in 2015. The remaining fell under other categories — murder for gain, murder for property gains, political murder and revenge killings.
A somewhat similar trend is seen in most of the coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh. Vijayawada Police Commissioner D. Gautam Sawang is of the view that murders arising from sexual jealousy are more in these parts because there is more evidence of promiscuity in the coastal regions. “It could be due to a number of factors such as the economy, the social and cultural fabric. Most of the murders are committed at the spur of the moment, especially when passions run high.” According to DCP Ravi Kumar Murthy, coastal regions are economically better off than the other districts and society here is more open — not as conservative as districts in the hinterland. “The combination of economic freedom with the openness in society may be the cause for the increasing promiscuity,” he surmises.
“It is either the husband killing his wife on suspicion or the wife eliminating the husband with the help of her paramour. In some cases, both join hands to eliminate the extra-marital partner or the husband kills the paramour on suspicion. But such killings can be prevented through counselling, as most of them are based on suspicion,” says a senior police officer.
According to Prof. N.N. Raju, former Superintendent of Government Hospital of Mental Care, Vishakhapatnam, this is just the tip of the iceberg.
“Sexual jealousy is not only the cause for many murders but it is also the biggest contributor to marital discords. There is no one reason responsible for the ‘infidelity idea’ — a number of factors are involved for the spike such as social, biological, psychological and brain make-up,” he added.
Stress factorDr. Deepa Mohan, Head of the Department of Psychology, GITAM University, points out that stress factors are also responsible for such relationships.
“It has been seen that due to the high stress levels, especially where both the spouses work, incidences of extra-marital affairs and suspicion are on the rise. Eight of 12 cases that I come across, relate to such discords.”
