Man killed for 'making fun' of robbers, four men burnt to death for 'staring' at a gangster and other such incidents point to a disturbing trend in our increasingly intolerant, self-centred society, say psychologists

IN telling proof of ours being a dog-eat-dog world where egos are so fragile that the littlest aggravation can drive people to murder, a pan shop owner was brutally killed by four robbers for daring to stop a robbery and smirking at them while he was at it.

This is the fourth such murder in recent times (see box) and psychologists have attributed the disturbing trend to a fast-paced lifestyle, the stress resulting from it, the need to amass money to gain a standing in society and an all-pervading, blinding selfishness.


Nasir Sheikh, one of the four accused, who killed Chand Sayyed on the tracks near Ghatkopar railway station


The deceased, Chand Sayyed (30) was found with his throat slit on platform number three of Ghatkopar railway station in the early hours of Wednesday.

Sayyed had come to the city from Kolkata only eight days prior to his murder and was living with his brother Latif Shaikh in Nityanand Nagar, Ghatkopar (West).

Sayyed, who was in search of a livelihood, had recently started running a pan shop near the Hanuman temple in the area and he used to sleep in the shop at night.

According to the police, four men had gone to Nityanand Nagar on Tuesday night with the intention of carrying out a robbery.
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They were caught red-handed, however, and were thrashed by Sayyed and some other residents, but managed to flee the spot.
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The accused told the police that they were incensed that Sayyed had dared to make fun of them and they decided to teach him a lesson.

A few hours after they fled, the four men returned to Nityanand Nagar, dragged Sayyed out of his shop and took him to the railway tracks in Ghatkopar where they slit his throat. They told the police that they had chosen the spot so that the murder would seem like an accident.

In luck
Interestingly, serendipity helped the Kurla police crack the case when they arrested Nasir Sheikh (19) in connection with a cellphone theft yesterday. He broke down during investigation, confessed to the theft and even to Sayyed's murder and named his three accomplices.

"Amar Sahu and Binu, both in their 20s, were arrested later, while the fourth accomplice is on the run. They confessed to targeting Sayyed as he had made fun of them," said an officer from the Kurla police.

Psychologists' take
Our life is running at a great pace and our mind gets short of fuel, so reasoning is not done, which causes stress. Thinking, which is the part between anger and action, is completely lost in such a scenario and, thus, people commit such criminal offences.
Dr Harish Shetty