Through this book, the retired Director General of Police (Karnataka CID), Mr D V Guruprasad, presents cases of convicts on the death-row, with the hope of discerning the mental state of such criminals. As he writes in the Preface, he was inspired by his encounters with late-stage cancer patients who experience hope, denial and depression in varying measures.
Mr Guruprasad has taken the trouble of interviewing several death-row convicts, some of whom have committed the most heinous crimes possible. Of the many convicts that he meets, fascinating stories of eight are presented in this book, along with their post-crime mental state. If not for anything, the individual stories presented in this book are themselves worth your time. Though reprehensible, it is an eye-opening experience to find out about the extent to which one individual could stoop to, to get what he/she wants.
Before I go into the discussions of the contents of this book, permit me to digress a little to talk about the psychosocial aspects of the criminal mind, which have a bearing on the contents.
Many of the criminals, and a majority of the prison population, would qualify for a diagnosis of Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD). Therefore, it would be prudent to remind ourselves about the diagnostic criteria for ASPD before we proceed further.
[Note: These criteria are according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual Version 5 (DSM-5) devised by the American Psychiatric Association for arriving at the diagnoses of mental illnesses. There is also the International Classification of Diseases Version 10 (ICD-10), devised by the World Health Organization, in which ASPD is termed Dissocial Personality Disorder, but the diagnostic criteria are largely similar to those of DSM-5].
ASPD is characterized by a casual disregard for, and violation of others' rights in all social situations. This is indicated by 3 or more of the following:
- Failure to follow social norms and law, indicated by repeated illegal acts leading to arrest.
- Deceitfulness, indicated by lying, use of aliases, or conning others for profit/pleasure.
- Impulsivity or failure to plan ahead.
- Irritability/aggressiveness, indicated by fights/assaults.
- Reckless disregard for safety of self/others.
- Consistent irresponsibility, indicated by failure to have gainful employment or to meet financial obligations.
- Lack of remorse, indicated by indifference or rationalization (explaining away) of problematic behaviour.
However, crime does not always have to be due to underlying ASPD. In many cases, crime occurs due to the complexities of the human mind; its hypocritical, sensitive and inconsistent nature that renders it vulnerable to exaggerated reactions to trivial provocations. Since most of us interact with the world through our ego, or the lower self, our interactions are laced with deep disappointments and resentment due to unmet expectations from others around us.
In the oft repeated nature versus nurture debate, it is important to remember that in the context of human personality, both are important. Of course, there could be genetic and hereditary influences on deviant personality, but if the upbringing is good, and the early childhood environment is conducive to good psychosocial development, the adverse effects of genes could be mitigated to some extent. I have documented this in an earlier work on a family whose many members had mental illnesses, with the sole exception of an elderly matriarch who displayed remarkable resilience and fortitude in handling the situation amicably.
Spiritually, it is said that the karma we bring with us to our human existence compels us to behave in ways that can generate more karma, good or bad. We can use our free will to act and behave in ways that can minimize the effects of bad karma and enhance the possibility of accruing good karma. However, in reality, unless one is an advanced seer, this is easier said than done due to the effects of mind/ego.
We easily forget that nothing and nobody is under our control; we forget we need to accept people for what they are, and that it is okay for others to behave contrary to how we would in a given situation. The mind with its ego rules over us, compelling us to behave in often unproductive and even harmful ways. ASPD and other personality disorders happen to be products of the vagaries of the human mind/ego, and indeed, bad karma.
With this background, let us now delve into the individual cases presented in the book briefly (these are my personal views on these cases without any spoilers; for more specific details please read the book).
Rohan: He can qualify as the Ted Bundy of India, although the latter is said to have been even more creative in the violence he inflicted on his victims (please see films on Bundy, such as Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, 2019). Rohan befriended women and made away with their valuables after killing them.
I was struck by the extent of gullibility of all his female victims who fell for this ploy. Indeed, this is one of the enduring mysteries of our existence: like moths drawn to fire, seemingly smart women blindly trust conniving conmen to the point of self-negation. Even if they survive, they continue to live in abusive relationships, something that can perhaps be explained by the psychological phenomenon of learned helplessness - giving up trying to escape an adverse situation even when escape is possible - which I have observed in abused women that I have seen in my medical practice.
The Dandupalya gang: There appeared to be interesting group dynamics within the gang, alternately bickering and uniting with each other, opportunistically. They were probably bound together by the common cause: crime, and escaping the consequences of such crime, which gave a cultish feel to their gang. At least one member of the gang displayed the tendency of getting high on killing others; a fascination for the act of murder and bloodletting. Given the multiplicity and the heinous nature of their crimes, it is appalling that the otherwise disparate group stuck together in the vehement denial of its wrongdoing, and one of the reasons for this appears to be the shared loss of insight described under the ASPD criteria above.
Pushpa: This a rare case of female ASPD, with the additional problems of insatiable greed, and an inability to stay away from the act of murder, ostensibly to steal the valuables of victims, but really, I suspect, due to an addiction. As in the gang above, any action that activates the reward mechanism in the brain (any action that triggers dopamine release in certain brain areas resulting in pleasurable emotions), can result in the individual becoming dependent or addicted to it.
Be that as it may, her modus operandi was particularly problematic because she took advantage of her victims' vulnerability and conducted sham religious procedures to gain their confidence and kill them. Fakery such as Pushpa's leads one to cast aspersions on even genuine practitioners of Sanatana Dharma. Besides, her actions play right into the hands of the so-called rationalists who have a particular predilection for venting vitriol on Hindu rituals.
Mahesh: Who said that big burly men do not cross-dress? Yet another case of ASPD, Mahesh yo-yoed between sexually assaulting female victims and surreptitious transvestism. It is particularly disconcerting to note that a law enforcer could turn into a law breaker and evader, which once again goes to highlight the tenacity of the criminal mind that compels one to become so.
Suresh: For a change, this was a convict with no signs of ASPD, but he did seem to have the affliction of another kind, something which can affect any one of us. As described above, a small word with a big problem: ego. Hurt by the fact that one of his female relatives preferred marrying somebody else, he went on a killing spree of his family; possibly a suicide-pact that went horribly wrong.
Sairam: Sometimes circumstances force a person to take matters into his own hands, and this man was unlucky to have had two deceptive wives. He too, is unlikely to have had ASPD. His case begs the question, how would we react if we were faced with a similar predicament?
Srikant: Once again, ego was hurt at the fact that a female relative that he had an incestuous feeling towards was seeing somebody else. Like most of the cases included in this study, he too denied any wrongdoing on his part.
Sanjay: Can alcohol blackouts be used as defence against a murder charge? Medically, we know that alcohol increases risk of both suicide and homicide since it is a disinhibitant; that is, it takes away the usual restraint and grace that we exercise in our social relations. The answer is probably no, because alcohol can be seen as a lifestyle choice that the perpetrator willingly indulged in, in the first place. Sanjay probably also had dissociative episodes (loss of memory/control during stressful periods) while killing his family. The cause for his breakdown appears to be typical marital strife that usually leads to intensely emotional upheavals and high stress and duress.
If unearthing the nature of 'death-row syndrome' is the primary purpose of this work, it is, as the author himself admits, not achieved. There appear to be two main reasons for this. Firstly, as Mr Guruprasad suggests in the Afterword, the convicts appear to have been instructed by their lawyers and fellow inmates to maintain their innocence with everyone they meet, especially with a visiting policeman. This is because they live in the hope of being released early, given the changing nature of our jurisprudence, differential application of law, and the whims of the deciding/appellate courts, judges and other authorities.
They take heart from the fact that in several previous cases, convicts have benefitted by such largesse, and at least on one occasion, a retiring President of the country had commuted the sentence and paved the way for early release of many similar convicts. The professional hangman that Mr Guruprasad interviews, also observes that almost none of the convicts he has hanged expressed regret for their actions, and some have resorted to the art of malingering - deliberately harming oneself or feigning symptoms of illness - to escape the noose.
Secondly, I suspect that there could be a deeper reason for such blatant denial: the lack of insight described above under the ASPD criteria. Many convicts actually believe in their innocence, and would do anything to rationalize their acts and shift the blame onto the victim, arresting police officers, judge, judicial system, etc. In any case, the entire situation appears to be vastly different from what one encounters in the western countries, where there is an air of finality to the sentence, and convicts are likely to actually display the 'death-row syndrome.' [Note: please seen excellent fictional film adaptations of real-life stories; e.g., Trial by Fire (2018) and Clemency (2019)].
I have worked in Forensic Psychiatry service while in the UK, wherein criminals who are mentally ill, or, conversely and more importantly, persons with mental disorders who commit a crime, are managed. There is a lack of forensic psychiatric services across India, barring a few major centres. Here, they tend to be managed in prisons by the resident doctor, who, at best, can provide only basic medical care.
Hence, the problematic behaviour and/or psychiatric issue, notably ASPD, remains unaddressed and mismanaged. This in turn has a bearing on the recidivism rates, which remain high even in the presence of robust forensic psychiatric services. This explains why convicts are liable to commit similar or other crimes upon early release from prison. In between incarceration and being released, either through bail, furlough, or a commuted sentence, there is hardly any forensic psychiatric care available, putting both the perpetrators and their victims at risk.
I am no legal expert, but like any law-abiding citizen, I do feel strongly about cases where gross injustice was done towards the victims. Overall, there appears to be a lot of slips between the proverbial cup and the lip as far as serving justice is concerned. As the saying goes, there is plenty of law in our courts, but not enough justice. From diversion tactics, to subverting evidence, to changing statements, to feigning illnesses, to hoping for a commuted sentence, a convict and his/her representatives can take advantage of the many loopholes in the judicial system.
The elusive nature of truth, and the almost impossible task of proving guilt 'beyond reasonable doubt' ensure that justice, sadly, for many of the victims described in this work and otherwise, remains a myth. None of the convicts presented in this book have been hanged, and many are living in the hope of having their sentences commuted. This is probably the reason why Mr Guruprasad has not found any significant mental illnesses, notably depression, among many of these convicts (unlike late-stage cancer patients who inspired this work).
Which brings me, finally, to the touchy subject of capital punishment. There have been raging debates about the veracity of this punishment method. On the one hand, almost all victims (of other cases) and their families have expressed the wish that the convicts responsible for those cases be hanged. On the other hand, the self-appointed guardians of human rights have cried foul and argued that capital punishment is barbaric, retributive, and has failed to act as a deterrent of further crime.
This debate raises a few other germane questions. Why can't punishment, including death penalty, be meted out proportionate to the crime committed in individual cases, regardless of whether such punishment acts as a deterrent of future crime or not? What about the legal loopholes that a convict has recourse to, indeed, even that convict who has committed the 'rarest of rare' crimes? What about the human rights of the victim who suffered at the hands of the convict? And what guarantee can those against capital punishment provide to ensure that recidivism rates are addressed, and the released convict will never revert to his/her old behaviour? If capital punishment is to be done away with, can the existing jurisprudence guarantee that a hardcore, incorrigible convict would be kept incarcerated till the end of his/her natural life, with no recourse to appeals, bail, furlough, or a commuted sentence?
This, of course, is unlikely to happen because, only recently, the Supreme Court stated that the right to furlough of a convict cannot be foreclosed since it is 'an incentive towards good jail conduct.' It is worth noting that the said convict in the case had had his death penalty commuted to life imprisonment by the President of the country with the condition that he would remain in prison 'for the whole of the remainder of his natural life without parole and there shall be no remission of the term of imprisonment.'
Both the parties in the capital punishment debate, I suggest, are missing the larger point. Spiritually, it is said that nobody has the right to take the life of a fellow human being, no matter what he/she has done, whether it is the case of a criminal killing his victim, or a vigilante seeking retribution. Our scriptures tell us that killing another person should be the last resort, an action that is undertaken under strict dharmic conditions when all other strategies have been exhausted. Further, the karmic theory holds that each person should be given the chance to live out his/her karma to the fullest extent so as to facilitate their spiritual progress.
Having said that, allowing a criminal to run riot and maim/kill others, and putting up with the inflicted injustice passively, are also adharma. This is where the state, as the parens patriae of its people, has to step in to maintain the fine balancing act of ensuring the safety of its citizens on the one hand, and providing medicolegal and psychosocial care to convicts on the other. This, as we have seen in multiple examples from this book and elsewhere, is easier said than done.
If we can find the answers/solutions to these larger questions/issues, we can hope to come close to solving the conundrum of capital punishment, and indeed, meting out equitable and timely justice in all cases.
Mr Guruprasad candidly admits that this is a limited study: a single individual's effort in collecting anecdotal evidence from a limited number of perpetrators from a single centre. Going forward, the subject of death-row syndrome requires a multi-centre, objective study of convicts' mental state using standardized tools of measurement.
Having said that, this work is a thought-provoking attempt at understanding the criminal mind, which also serves as a grim reminder of the potential for evil that is lurking in the human mind. Only by acknowledging and studying and managing this potential can we hope to create a safe society, and to this end, Mr Guruprasad's work is a worthy addition.
