Buzz By The Bay: Psychotherapist And Consulting Psychologist Khushnaaz Noras Explains Why More Young Indians Are Committing Violent Crimes

On this episode of Buzz by the Bay, Anushka Jagtiani is joined by accomplished certified psychotherapist and consulting psychologist Khushnaaz Noras, who has over 18 years of experience helping adults and adolescents navigate mental health issues.

As India grapples with a series of shocking crimes involving young people—from alleged premeditated murders to fatal drunk-driving incidents—we explore the psychology behind these disturbing acts. Are we witnessing a deeper moral crisis, rising psychopathy, or the consequences of a culture driven by instant gratification and low frustration tolerance?

Using recent high-profile cases as a starting point, Khushnaaz explains why nobody becomes a criminal overnight, the warning signs families often miss and the impact of copycat crimes.

Excerpts from the interview:

A particular case that grabbed headlines in June was the Lohagadh murder case, the ketan, siya, Chetan love triangle. What do you think this reflects about our society?

So firstly, I feel this crime reflects something which is happening gradually in our society. So what I see here is a gradual erosion of empathy, of value for human life and even accountability. A sense that I can just get away with it. What happens in these cases is that slowly and steadily, when empathy goes down, a person feels that what they have decided is the only way out here.

Do these crimes reflect a deeper moral crisis amongst the youth? Or is this pure psychopathy and criminality?

You ask whether this crime reflects a moral crisis. Maybe not for all. I feel that every generation has seen multiple crimes, but what is distinct about where our society is heading now is that, people are adopting or taking extreme measures for daily difficult issues that they go through. For example, who hasn't gone through a breakup or felt pressurized by families or have financial troubles. But to go to this extent is what we are seeing in a particular section of the society

You said this erosion of empathy, and taking extreme steps is a gradual shift that has happened. when did it start happening and why?

What psychologist have seen is that this is like a trend. And it can also be influenced by a lot of things, such as what they see on digital media. One can also say that they can get influenced by the other crimes that have happened in the past.

Are we seeing a copycat crime trend. In the last year there have been 3 women who have killed their spouses or finances? The latest one is the alleged murder of Ketan Agarwal by his fiance Siya. There was the Sonam and Raja Raghuvanshi murder case last year and then the Muskaan murder case.

So what happens is that when somebody sees a crime, the person can also start identifying with the problem of the victim or with the person who is the offender. Let‘s say a current offender has seen something similar earlier and says, ‘oh, this is just like me, or this is my life, and this is how this person got away with it, let me do the same thing and probably get better at it’. So it could happen because of that. In general, I think tolerance to frustration in our society has gone very, very low. And people believe in instant gratification. So there is an immediate need to solve a problem.

What's your psychological assessment of a person like Siya Goyal, who allegedly pushed her fiance Ketan off the fort- judging from the behavior and all the facts out there?

So we won’t use the word assessment because obviously i have never sat across her to assess her. But I can tell you one thing. She obviously thought she is going to get away with it. There is a theory of moral disengagement that we had studied in college. It’s by Albert Bandura in the early 1990s. This theory says that nobody really becomes a criminal overnight. You don't just wake up and want to kill someone.

So what happens is empathy comes down, then the person starts justifying to themselves that this is the only way out. They feel the victim deserves it or there’s no other choice so this is inevitable. So once the person starts justifying it in their head, the guilt also comes down. And then they start seeing the person less and less as a human being, and more as an object or a hurdle. So maybe in my assessment that theory holds true.

So as you said this moral disengagement comes in where you don't see the person as a human being. When you are counselling young people, can you tell that a person is heading towards this?

Honestly, no you can't. There is no psychologist who can predict who might commit murder. I don't think that's possible. But yes, what a psychologist can effectively do is look at patterns of thinking and behaviour. So there are some people whose personalities are more predisposed to that. Such as those who are probably manipulative, pathological liars, have fits of rage, etc. Those people may have those kind of tendencies.

If you come across a client or patient like that how do you deal with the situation?

So if we see a client like that, we would probably send them for further psychological assessment. And if need be, we would ask a psychiatrist also to intervene and maybe start with medication. So then it becomes like a full psychopharmacology approach.

A lot of people are blaming the institution of arranged marriage for many of these horrific crimes. Because so much pressure is put on these young girls to marry a particular person. What do you think?

It could be. But I feel that our blame and aggression on the arranged marriage institution is a bit misplaced. It is true that is happening, but then there are so many other successful arranged marriages. Arranged marriage is not a problem, but parents telling their child, ‘We know what is right for you; we decide what is good for you,’ is the problem.