Provocation, greed and jealousy— top reasons for murders in B'luru

Hameed Ashraf | NT

Bengaluru: Sudden and grave provocation led to most of the murders that were reported in the city last year, said Bengaluru police who shared the annual report of crimes registered in 2023.

As per the report, 207 murder cases were registered across the police stations in Bengaluru last year against 173 in 2022 and 153 in 2021.

The city also recorded a total of 12,627 criminal offences in 2023 with vehicle theft as highest among the list, standing at 5,909 cases.

Senior police officials revealed that the top reasons for the murders were Sudden provocation, illicit affairs, family issues and personal enmity among others.

Between November 2022 and June 2023, seven cases of murders among live-in partners and married couples were reported in Bengaluru.

In most cases, the victims were murdered by their live-in partners, ex-boyfriends, girlfriends or jilted lovers.

Murders for gain saw a steep downfall to two in 2023, compared to 17 the year before.

A senior officer on the condition of anonymity said that the motives for the murders are shifting, sometimes to less than frivolous in many cases.

But in all these cases, the murderers have a common intensity that drives them to take the extreme step — for jealousy, hatred, dowry demands, religious hatred, unrequited love — a progression of crimes such as stalking, harassment of women and a host of other reasons that did not require the snapping away of a human life.

While experts are already calling it disturbing, there is an outcry for more policing and stricter action in Bengaluru.

Recently the Electronic City police arrested a native of Uttar Pradesh for allegedly murdering a woman, the wife of his employer, in a bid to rob the money and valuables from the house.