Remnants of apartment 213

We as humans tend to do the most vicious and inhumane things. Ranging from murder, cannibalism, necrophilia and mutilations. Call it a mental sickness or an impulse, it happens all around the world. If the perpetrators are convicted, they spend their entire lives behind bars. If they succeed in evading the law enforcement agencies, they continue to carry out gruesome acts. Sometimes these acts come to the fore and sometimes they’re carried out behind closed doors. Prisons don’t play a significantly positive role either. Although they’re supposed to rehabilitate prisoners, instead they do quite the opposite, they transform them into vindictive, blood thirsty wolves.

It was reported on 23rd March 2022 that body parts scattered along with a human head were found on Misryal Road in Rawalpindi. Pedestrians reported seeing mutilated body parts on the road and reported the same to police officials. The body was identified as of a 13-year-old girl. DNA reports will take another two weeks and there are no signs of the perpetrator.

‘’An inquiry has been initiated, CCTV footage is being collected and evidence is being considered’’. If we had a rupee for everytime we heard that, we could’ve paid off Pakistan’s entire debt. In an ideal world, let’s assume that the killer is caught and is either sentenced to life in prison or death — both situations will lead to only a temporary solution. Until of course someone else’s body parts are found on the road again, then we’re back to square one.

Normal people, like you and I, don’t harm living things, let alone kill. But then again who are we to decide what’s normal and what’s not? People who kill, mutilate and are involved in necrophilia are not normal people. For them, rationale declines, it’s only their empty eyes and placid faces against the world. They are deranged individuals looking for outlets to curb their impulses. The brush of dead cold flesh appeases their means. They’re either products of life-long neglect or abuse. If they’re none, it is upon us, the ‘normal’ ones to figure out what situations and circumstances turn them into beasts. An example being the English convict, Jeffery Dahmer. Also known as the Milwaukee Cannibal, Dahmer murdered and dismembered the bodies of seventeen men and boys between 1978 and 1991 in his apartment number 213. When enquired about his childhood, he stated that he was infatuated with dead animals and with having complete control. Dahmer, in his childhood, would mutilate dead animals and keep their insides as trophies. Overtime, this obsession transferred from animals to humans and Dahmer began killing humans to keep their body parts as trophies. He said he had been neglected by his parents as a child and was not given attention due to which he turned towards his defiant acts.

The idea is to talk to these lonely souls and enquire about their thoughts, their feelings and their impulses. Humans, as general, crave empathy and attention. People who incessantly break rules, violate laws and go as far as violating other people are in need of help themselves. Merely throwing such people behind bars does not and will not cut it. I stated a similar position in my piece labelled ‘Wisdom of a psychopath’ published here on 27th February 2022 where I unequivocally stated that delinquents who carry out heinous acts need to be spoken with, as they might have more to offer. Although that piece was specific to the convict Zahir Jaffer, nonetheless, the principle remains the same.

Our prisons are overflooded, our judicial system is slower than a snail and our politicians are busy seeking revenge from each other. Edifice of the entire system continues to crumble under the immense pressure of those who run it. But what we don’t need more of is deaths. Enough people have died, we can’t have more. The criminal justice system of Pakistan is yearning for reforms, major reforms. Convicts need to be understood rehabilitated before another decorated splatter spoils the room.