oppn parties Mother Kills Son, Roasts The Body

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Delhi Lt Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena says government cannot be run from jail, hints at President's Rule in the capital ////// In a dangerous incident, the wings of two planes grazed while taxiing on the runway at Kolkata airport, all passengers were safe but DGCA ordered an inquiry and the pilots were derostered
oppn parties
Mother Kills Son, Roasts The Body

By Linus Garg
First publised on 2020-12-13 12:23:36

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.

Where is our society, mired in superstitions and overpowered by fake babas, heading to? When a mother kills her 25-year-old son to appease the Gods, one starts having serious thoughts about what kind of people some of us have become by blindly following our twisted beliefs.

Geeta Mahensaria, living in a rented house in Kolkata's posh Salt Lake locality, is alleged to have killed her eldest son Arjun by smashing his head with a grindstone. Later, she is alleged to have roasted the body in a big kadhai with ghee, camphor and spices. The incident is alleged to have happened in October this year after which the woman left for Ranchi with her other son and daughter.

The matter came to light when Anil Mahensaria, Geeta's husband, who lived separately since August 2019, lodged a complaint with the police on November 30 that his elder son was missing and not with his family in Ranchi. Anil came to know about this as Arjun used to work with him in the family business but had not attended office for over a month. Later, on December 10, he lodged another complaint that he feared Arjun has been killed by his wife and other children.

When the police raided the house, they found a charred skeleton on the terrace and a grindstone with blood stains. They have sent the skeleton for DNA testing to establish the identity of the victim. Geeta has been arrested. The police say that she has confessed to her crime and said that the body was roasted as alleged.

It is unfathomable what kind of disgusted mind can make a woman kill her own son and then roast his body. No religion can permit this, let alone goad the faithful to do it. Geeta was supposed to be highly religious and neighbours say that the family used to hold pujas, yajnas and kirtans frequently. Anil alleges that she had fallen into the trap of some tantriks and used to perform black magic along with ritualistic pujas where sacrifices could have taken place. He says he left her because of that.

But what Geeta is finally alleged to have done proves that her mind has become sick. She needs psychiatric help. One fails to understand how her other two children, who are educated, did not see the signs and report the matter to other elders in the family, if not to the police. The society also needs to have a mechanism whereby people with such sick minds are detected and stopped. It is not good to encourage such people by attending the pujas where such rituals are performed. People should inform the authorities if they see something amiss, instead of treating it as a religious function. 

Pic courtesy: from the print edition of The Times of India, Kolkata