HYDERABAD: Be it a cab driver from Uppal, who beheaded a three-month-old girl as a ‘nar-bali’ to cure his sick wife or learned scholars in Chittoor, who were caught for the gruesome double murder of their daughters, anyone can fall prey to superstitious beliefs and do something so heinous that it leaves the world in a state of shock, opined a psychologist.
In India, indoctrination takes place at a young age, often followed by a lifetime of conditioning, said psychiatrists, adding that crimes are not just a result of superstition, but those beliefs also dictate the method sometimes.
The Chittoor double murder case is of shared psychotic disorder, where the couple was extremely superstitious, said Dr Diana Monterio, a city-based psychologist.
“Faith-based beliefs are a very strong motivator for a person. We always want to hope for something better and if superstitions and beliefs are taught from a young age, one fails to develop cognitive flexibility and they will…