Statistics maintained by the police show that there is also a criminal side to our society that has been getting uglier and uglier over the past few years. This only substantiates speculations that the Nepali society is getting cruel. According to Nepal Police, on an average, at least two murders have been taking place in the country every day for the past some years. Data revealed by Nepal police show that in fiscal years 2018/19, 2019/20, 2020/21 and 2021/22, as many as 659, 555, 697 and 590 people were murdered. The presence of this ‘killer mentality’ in society where people don’t hesitate even to kill others paints a very dangerous picture. There have been news reports about murders and killings carried out by the victims’ own family members, relatives, lovers, spouses etc. Police cases reveal that fights on even trivial matters have led to murders! They also show that people are getting more and more intolerant toward others and some even resort to extreme forms of violence like murders. This is not a good sign.

The Nepali society has seemingly changed a lot over the past decade. Due to the development of information technology, people find news and information on anything at their fingertips – information about anything is just a click away! Over the past few years, the Nepali society has found more opportunities of foreign employment. People are traveling around and seeing things and changes in other parts of the world. This has been slowly but steadily changing the very character of our society. There have been instances when people who had gone abroad for employment returned home to find out that their hard-earned money was gobbled up by another family member! Such incidents have led to extreme forms of violence including murders. Similarly, as the traditional Nepali society opens up, thanks to the advancements in the information technology, some people get oriented toward crimes. Mobile phones, social networking sites and the Internet have kept people in touch like never before – establishing contacts, interactions and even physical meetings have become very easy. Committing crime by people with a criminal mentality has been made easier, too. Also, people are being duped and swindled by those who they got acquainted with through various social sites. Of course, all this is a misuse of the information technology but the state has been unable to check this wrong trend. However, to go to the extent of killing someone even if they have duped or conned you or swindled you out of your hard-earned money cannot be justified. In fact, this is a very dangerous trend, especially when we know that legal remedies do exist for such cases.                 

It is not that crimes like murders are taking place only now and that such incidents did not happen in the past. However, the nature of and motive behind murders have seemingly changed. In the past, most of the murders would be committed out of anger, at the spur of the moment, but these days murders are more premeditated and planned and cold-blooded. This reflects the criminal and cruel face of society. This could also be linked to the degradation of our moral values and ethics as a society. In the past, people would consider even killing animals as being sinful but today even killing people has become normal. This ‘normalization’ of violence is very dangerous. Incidents of violence and murder have seemingly increased not only in the cities but also in the remote and rural areas. What is also true is that our family values are changing. In the past, mostly there would be extended families in practice. That would mean giving and receiving support, advice, and care from each other. These days, mostly there are nuclear families – in most cases a family is made up of the husband, wife and their children. This is slowly making us self-centered – the ‘we’ feeling is getting weaker and the ‘I’ feeling stronger. Any society must be made aware about the negative aspects of violence. As legal ignorance is not pardonable, one should always keep oneself away from any kind of crime and exercise restraint in tense moments.      

 
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