Blog@GraceJunction

Denied his daily staple of porn and horror films on his personal computer, a youth from an affluent family in Kolhapur, Maharashtra decided to get rid of what he thought was the root cause of his misery. Abhishek Patil (21) confessed that he had murdered his grandmother Shantabai Patil (67) in cold blood on April 3. The youth was apparently angry that he had been asked to vacate his room to accommodate his grandmother after she had moved to their house recently.

Shantabai had recently shifted to the home of her elder son and Abhishek’s father, Shirish Patil, who is a doctor. Abhishek was upset with his grandmother using his room as he could not get his dose of horror and porn clips which he used to watch on his computer, he said. Abhishek was told by his parents to share a room with his brother, Viren.

Abhishek, a student of a private polytechnic college in Jaisinghpur, had not been attending classes for the past two months and Shantabai often scolded him for that. “She once even chided him in front of guests, which made him contemplate murder”!. On April 3, Abhishek smashed Shantabai’s head with a stone pestle, killing her instantly. He also stabbed Viren to make it look like an outside job. During interrogation, he tried to mislead the police by saying that Shantabai’s head had been smashed by an intruder. He claimed that he had tried in vain to catch the intruder. However, the police found discrepancies in the statements given by Abhishek and other family members. Abhishek was picked up on April 5 and subjected to sustained questioning. Two days back, he finally cracked and admitted to both his grandmother’s murder and to stabbing his brother! And all these for a few porn clips and horror movies!

It’s time we sit up, perhaps even stand up and think whether it’s just inherent but misplaced lust and desire of a youth or whehter it is some genetic anomaly, as some experts frequently now lead us to believe, or is there something to such gory incidents that are happening more frequently around us. It is not just that these youth (people) commit such crimes in cold blood but also that they have the mettle and audacity in them to cook up other stories, plan up alternate strategies and also appear innocent and all set to go on with their lives as if nothing had happened!

But these, as natural animals without reason, made to be caught and destroyed, speaking injuriously in things they are ignorant of, shall also perish in their own corruption, receiving the reward of their injustice, counting for a pleasure the delights of a day: stains and spots, sporting themselves to excess, rioting in their feasts with you: having eyes full of adultery, and that cease not from sin, alluring unestablished souls; having a heart practised in covetousness, children of curse; leaving the right way they have gone astray. These are springs without water, and mists driven by storm, to whom the gloom of darkness is reserved for ever.

These are verses taken from the Bible wherein it talks about the people of the end days! So there is no surprise element in the daily news.

However, its really painful to notice that neither education, nor effluence is able to civilise the human ways. Dr.Shirish Patil is a doctor who will now have to nurse multiple ailments of his own. The one of losing his mother, the other of a grown up son who is now behind bars and also a third one, his son having killed his mother! He might be thinking about where he went wrong with Abhishek?! 

Ironically, Abhishek means introduction of a sacramental or divine influence, a holy emanation, spirit or power and even also as a spiritual mode of ridding persons and things of dangerous influences and diseases, especially of the demons! What went wrong with Abhishek himself!? Imagine the amount of desperation and frustration that was pent up inside this young man that motivated him to kill his own grandmother!

We really need to think about the value systems that our young men and women are growing up to. Media is not just mentoring them but also providing them their staple! They are not just getting directions for life, they are drawing life itself from the media! It’s as if Abhishek’s survival itself was at stake and so he killed his grandmother! They live in a parallel and virtual world that’s devoid of feelings, sympathy, compassion or even consideration for other humans! They call the shots, take the pleasure and remain satisfied in their world.

Dr.Shirish perhaps missed out spending some quality time with his son while he was growing up. Parents should remember that children don’t just need amneties and luxuries as much as they need their very presence, guidance and company. 

Dr. Shirish even perhaps missed the symptoms of what was happening to his son. It’s a classic case of “Physician, heal thyself”. He had stopped going to college since two months and perhaps spent most of his time inside the closed corridors of his room. Parents many times are very busy and involved to notice such behavioral changes exhibited by their young ones. These are many times just dismissed as passing phases of their growing up. However, these young people are today equipped with technology that allows them to behave like a mob gone amok even in their solitude. Moreover, experts recommend the computer, especially connected to the internet to be kept in a public place even inside the house. The internet is a powerful tool waiting to be used inappropriately!

It’s so easy for anybody to sit in front of a computer and comment about what went wrong with a certain family, but can we refrain from talking about it? Can we avoid trying to get to the root of the evil?

Inculcating godly values in children even while they are growing up is not religious fanaticism nor is a faculty that is dealt with just by professionals (meaning priests, maulvis, pandits). Man needs an awakening on this front from a very young age, and who else will do it but parents. Irrespective of the faith they are born in, parents should not just thinking about feeding children with science, maths, drawing, general knowledge and other skill sets, they should also give them proper moral and ethical education and training and instil in them godly values. Instead of making godly values look like a set of rules that “must” be followed, it should be practised with joy and pleasure and the benefits conveyed to the little ones only then will they embrace it when they grow up. They surely might miss out of what we say, but they will surely copy what we do.

Train up a young man in the way that he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it. I absolutely agree with this verse from the Bible. It has helped me when I grew up and am sure it will help my children.

Hope more people open their eyes to see the actual condition of their homes and many more to the possibilities and probablities of their familes and homes if they continue to tread the same path as they tread now.

Tags: abhishek, cold blood, computer, convicted, doctor, ethics, families, godly values, grand mother, home environment, homes, horror movies, Internet, killing, life, media, mentor, morals, muder, parenting, porn clips, Religion, shirish, soclded, stab, stone pestle, training, upset, values

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 10th, 2008 at 3:01 pm and is filed under Articles, Geo, Internet, Religions, Society, Troubles & Problems, Youth Issues. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.