The Hindu : New Delhi News : Mass hysteria or reality ? Law & order

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Sep 29, 2007
ePaper

New Delhi

New Delhi

Mass hysteria or reality ? Law & order

The “hammer man” like the “monkey man” could also
be merely a figment of public imagination

The spate of attacks on women residents of Baljeet Nagar and surrounding areas in West Delhi has left the locals terrorised. The murderous assaults have given credence to rumours about the existence of a “hammer man” who, according to the local residents, strikes in the early hours of the day targeting women. While investigations are on to confirm the existence of such a serial killer, the police believe that the incidents are unrelated and the “hammer ma n” could be a product of mass hysteria.

Way back in 2001, a mysterious “monkey man” had created panic among the residents of North-East Delhi and East Delhi. Within days, scores of incidents of the mysterious creature attacking people were reported. The description of the “monkey man” provided by the people did not match, though most of the incidents took place in the early hours of the day. The paranoia reached such levels that people beat up a man in Geeta Colony suspecting him to be the “monkey man”.

The police received over 370 distress calls about the creature having been spotted, but most of them were found bogus. As it turned out later, the elusive creature remained a mystery and the hysteria gradually fizzled out with the police taking action against those spreading “monkey man” rumours. A doctor was among those arrested for spreading the rumours!

According to the police, the “hammer man” like the “monkey man” could also be merely a figment of public imagination. In support of their argument, they cite the example of a young woman who was actually murdered by her grandmother and brother-in-law in the same locality last month, but locals had been alleging that she was a victim of the mysterious assailant.

The police believe that they will crack the other cases as well and catch the culprits.

However, Rajat Mitra of Swanchetan Society for Mental Health says the incidents of attacks, in which some victims lost their lives, definitely indicate the existence of a serial killer who targets women. “Such an assumption is closer to reality,” said Dr. Mitra, adding that it could also be true that some criminals were taking advantage of the rumours and were committing crimes in the hope that they would be attributed to be the handiwork of the “hammer man”. Though the police took measures to prevent any further attack, the fact remains that a young woman was found murdered in the same locality in the early hours of this Thursday. The incident has dealt a heavy blow to the faith of the public in the force. In such circumstances, the need of the hour for the police is to solve the murder case at the earliest and also dispel any rumours that would come in the way of rounding up the real culprits.

Devesh K. Pandey

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail