Heart of Darkness

The Rise Of Impulsive, Brutal Crimes In Kerala Is Not Just A Law-And-Order Issue But Reflection Of A Society Struggling With Breakdown Of Families, Social Cohesion, Substance Abuse, Commodification And Moral Decay

A 23-year-old man after consuming poison, walks into a police station in Thiruvananthapuram rural district on Monday evening this week and confesses, “I have killed six people”.

His victims are his minor brother, grandmother, uncle and aunt, and his girlfriend, murdered across three villages. He also left his mother for dead but she survived and is admitted to a hospital now. Despite the brutality, he appeared calm as he told the police that the murders were driven by a combination of love and lack of support from certain family members.

This phenomenon of otherwise normal-looking men committing ruthless acts of violence against family and friends is a harsh reality in Kerala today. Between Jan 1 and Feb 28, 2025, eight such cases were reported, five of them in Feb alone. In these cases, young men, typically between 20 and 40 years old with no criminal history, attacked and either grievously injured or killed family, friends, or neighbours. Strikingly, these perpetrators made no attempt to hide their crimes, often engaging in self-harm or immediately surrendering and confessing.

“The nature of murders has changed,” noted Febin Baby, president of the Indian Criminology & Forensic Science Association. “Earlier, family-related murders were committed discreetly to avoid suspicion.

Now, perpetrators ensure their acts are widely known. This is a dangerous trend where conventional crimes are committed in an unconventional manner and the violence is being normalized.”
Though Kerala crime data shows that murders have come down in the state from 352 in 2023 to 335 in 2024, such “negative heroism”, especially among the youth who do not believe in the normal but easily accept the abnormal have the Kerala police concerned too as it is increasingly becoming more of a social problem and not just a criminal mind at work.

“There are two types of control mechanisms in the youth- parental and societal control.  Both have come down significantly in the last decade,” said former DGP Jacob Punnoose.

Police investigations into such crimes suggest that financial motives often act as a trigger for murder, with many of the accused being addicted to alcohol, drugs, or influenced by harmful content on social media. However, there is no clear or definitive answer to the pressing question: “Why kill? And why so brutally?”
Explaining how the mind of an urban, alpha “criminal” male operates, Aleesha Sanish, a counselor at Samrudha Care Centre for Children in Kottayam—the only center in Kerala dedicated to treating adolescent boys with addictive behaviours—said signs of aggression and impulsiveness often emerge during teenage years but are frequently overlooked.

Addiction to drugs and alcohol exacerbates these tendencies, and without family or parental support, these individuals often turn to friendships for emotional comfort, which can lead them to bad company.

“Family environment and childhood trauma play a key role. Most of the children we have interacted with come from either broken homes with abusive parents or have grown up with a single parent. Many have content disorders. As they age, they have no guilt or repentance and they don’t have deep feelings or connect with anyone, including family members,” said Sanish.

“Not just in movies, but even in daily life people talk about violence, ruthless murders, tragedies and disasters in a very casual manner, with an increasing tendency to normalize the wrongs. Life is treated casually and many believe that things can be changed as per their whims and fancies, without any feeling of empathy. Growing up in such a sandwiched society, these criminals start believing that they have to control everything on their own and not depend on the existing systems,” said Jyothi S Nair, secretary, Kerala Sociological Society.

Besides changing parental influence, sociologists said commodification, changing demography, emerging social norms, lack of social cohesion, breakdown of families or changing family dynamics, high substance abuse, changing migration trends and modernization exacerbate the situation.

“There is unemployment and underemployment in Kerala, particularly due to the declining demand for unskilled labour. Due to this, some sections of the people experience systematic cultural, economic and status deprivation leading to frustration, anger and violence,” said Bushra Beegom RK, associate professor, department of Sociology, Kerala University.

Psychiatrists argue that these crimes do not fit into conventional categories of violence driven by intoxication, financial motives, or psychotic illnesses. The perpetrators display neither fear of the law nor love for themselves or their families.

“The magnitude of this issue is enormous, and multiple factors are at play. Drug abuse in Kerala is rising, more due to affordability than availability. People have money, and when it runs out, they find ways to get more,” said psychiatrist Dr PC Shahul Ameen. He also pointed out that, similar to alcohol, Malayalis exhibit a lack of self-control when it comes to drug consumption.

In urban settings, this so-called “urbanized, alpha male” is constantly at odds with his life circumstances. His social, financial, and familial struggles often dictate his actions, while substance abuse exacerbates his aggression. Experts warn that although the problem appears small now, dismissing it as isolated acts by mentally ill individuals would be a grave mistake.

Though this assumption is automatic, it may not be entirely true. Studies conducted in the US using databases of mass murderers, including spree and serial killers, have shown that about half of the accused had no clear evidence of mental illness before their crimes. They were moody, and unpredictable, inhabiting an internal world that is not easily put into any category.

Another study from the UK showed that most murderers did not have evidence of mental health symptoms at the time of the offence (85%) or a recorded history of mental disorder (69%). Mental disorder was also not found in most serial homicides (90%), mass murders (94%), or familicides (70%). But a quarter of them showed signs of depression and psychopathy — that is, hopelessness combined with a lack of remorse. Drug and alcohol abuse cannot be overlooked too.

“It is a matter of grave concern. Anyone and everyone is vulnerable at home and on the street. But criminalizing, isolating or declaring such people as criminals or inhuman is not the solution,” added psychiatrist Dr KS Shaji.