Murder most foul

A couple of days back, a schoolboy shot dead his female classmate before turning the gun on himself at a private school in Karachi. According to eye-witnesses, the 16-year-old boy opened fire on his classmate during the assembly session resulting in her instant death.

Soon after, the boy committed suicide with the same gun he used to kill her. Both died on the spot and their bodies were shifted to a nearby hospital for legal formalities, after which they were handed over to their respective families. Police said, they had recovered a 9mm pistol and two bullet casings from the crime scene.

Two ‘suicide letters’ were later found at the assembly grounds. The letters, addressed to their respective parents, stated that the two teenagers were committing suicide due to their parents’ opposition to their getting married. The letter, also said that their bodies be laid to rest next to each other.

But police have said that it could not be verified that the letters were written separately by the girl and boy considering that the handwriting in both letters seem identical.

The media lapped it up as it usually does. A suicide pact story makes for good ratings. Looking back, one can say that the story could have been done more responsibly and more with sensitivity. As things stand, the only thing we know is that the boy killed
the girl. But the media immediately claimed that he had killed
his girlfriend, of which we have no proof. Here it seems we have done a great injustice. What if the girl had been murdered
because she had spurned the boy’s advances? Only to get ratings, some media outlets made it into a story that was not independently verified.

Also, in situations of suicide, much care has to be taken by the media. In Australia, for example, I have seen, the media does not usually report on teen suicides. In fact, what happens when such tragedy takes place; the students at the school where the unfortunate child goes are told that he/she has shifted to another city.

The reason for this subterfuge is to prevent copycat suicides as this trend is very much common. In Pakistan, there must be more discussion on this issue as we are seeing a rise in such incidents.

We also have to look at the unregulated content that our children have access to. For example, there is a glorification of violence in a number of stories that they consume - whether in print, online or on television. While one cannot advocate for further regulation of the media or censorship, there must be some system in place to ensure that the wrong kind of messages do not end up with impressionable minds. As it is, there is rising peer pressure that sometimes forces children into situations that are both dangerous and possibly disastrous.

The other issue with this double murder is the easy availability of guns in Pakistan. Although this may be a naive question, how did a 16 year old get access to a 9mm pistol in the first place. Has the police tried to trace the source and what are they doing about it especially with Karachi awash in guns of all shapes and sizes.

Crusaders like Naeem Sadiq have tried to pressurise the government to come up with a strategy to restrict and monitor the number of weapons in the city. There are other dedicated people too who have over the years tried to warn of the dangers of easy access to guns. But our government continues to slumber as people suffer.

The double murder case is a sad reminder of how things are deteriorating in our society in general and in our educational institutions in particular. One should take the school administration to task as to how a student was able to smuggle in a gun and take a pot shot at another student. If nothing else, they should be asked what lessons have been learnt and what measures they are taking to avoid such incidents in the future.

One is afraid that such incidents will recur given the growing frustration of our youth and the lack of avenues for them to channelise their energies. What can be done to address this issue, so that we may save some valuable lives in the process.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 7^th,  2015.

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