Shadows of a ‘toxic cocktail theme’ in popular songs among teenagers — Love Breakup Revenge –can be seen in many recent crimes with the latest instance being Delhi’s Shahbad Dairy murder, in which a teenaged girl was brutally murdered by a 20-year-old youth.
A song by a popular Haryanvi singer, which has over 1.6 crore views on social media, mainly of millennials, expresses the agony of a dejected lover and glorifies his vengeful actions.
The song includes lines like “tere lagni hai mehndi, mere lagni hai dhara (IPC), ashiquan ka katna tu bhul jayegi saara,” in which the singer portrays the character of a heartbroken lover who is in a murderous rage.
The hero wishes to “teach his ex-beloved a lesson” on the day of her marriage with someone else, which would ultimately lead to his arrest.
The ripples of the reel-to-real incident can be seen in the recent killing of 16-year-old Sakshi by her boyfriend Mohammad Sahil Khan (20) in Delhi’s Shahbad Dairy area on May 28 which also raises questions about the psyche of youth in the social media era.
Sahil’s Instagram account reveals posts that discuss his fondness for a “dark life,” alcohol, friends, and his mother. Disturbingly, his profile also includes a video of Sahil smoking a hookah while late Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala’s song ‘Selfmade’ plays in the background. Police sources have confirmed that the account, named ‘Sahil Khan’, belongs to the accused. It is a public account and showcases Sahil with his friend in various posts.
Angry at being rebuffed after having a close relationship for the last four to five months, Sahil brutally stabbed Sakshi over 16 times, hit her with a boulder six times, and kicked her several times. Sakshi died on the spot, and her skull was broken into pieces, as per the autopsy report.
According to reports, Sakshi did not want to continue the relationship with Sahil but he repeatedly tried to get in touch with her. There were frequent fights as Sakshi again started getting close to her ex-boyfriend Praveen, whose name she had got tattooed on her hand.
“At or just before the act the thoughts in such scenarios could be anger, vengeance, hurt, betrayal, social shaming, “How dare he/she do this to me, needs to be taught a lesson, he/she deserves to be punished in such a manner, I am rightful in my action.. then the feelings and emotions get too powerful to control and lead to such an act. Alcohol or validation by people close to the perpetrator also fuels and seconds the emotional rage,” said Dr Paramjeet Singh, Consultant Psychiatrist, PSRI Hospital in Delhi.
“As an overall personality trait, such perpetrators can be impulsive, having anti-social traits, less guilt-prone, low frustration tolerance, may have a background of broken/abusive families, low on empathy or understanding others emotions, domineering, insecure within and outwardly confident,” said Dr Singh.
Another Senior Psychologist at Columbia Asia Hospital Gurugram and MD Psychiatry (AIIMS), Dr Ashish Kumar Mittal said that there is no denying the fact that a certain percentage of the population are narcissistic, psychopaths and have executed crimes like this before.
“But lately certain traits observed in the young population like low frustration tolerance, unrealistic expectations, overly romanticizing/dramatizing of love emotions, extreme behaviour role models in social media and poor communication/assertiveness techniques have definitely played a role in increasing such incidents,” said Dr. Mittal.
Dr. Sneha Sharma, Consultant Psychiatrist, Aakash Healthcare, New Delhi said that understanding the mindset of individuals who commit violent acts is a challenging task that involves considering multiple factors such as psychological, environmental, and societal influences.
“While changing the mindset of such individuals is complex, a comprehensive approach involving prevention, early intervention, and rehabilitation holds the potential for promoting positive change. Efforts should focus on creating supportive environments, improving access to mental health resources, and providing individuals with the necessary tools to lead non-violent and fulfilling lives,” she said.
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