Ahmedabad: In recent years a troubling trend has emerged in Gujarat with an increase in incidents of teenage rage escalating into serious criminal activities.
In the heart of Gujarat two towns, Sundarpuri and Kutch, became the unlikely stages for a chilling show of teenage rage, unfolding a narrative that would shake the very foundations of familial bonds and societal norms.
It was in 2017 when in Sundarpuri in Gandhidham a 17-year-old girl Meena Devipujak, in a fit of unrestrained anger, turned her family home into a crime scene. The reason for this deadly outburst: A seemingly mundane dispute over household chores with her mother Daniben, which escalated beyond imagination.
Mental Health Problems in Teens
The family, led by patriarch Vallabh Devipujak, was like any other, with the usual domestic squabbles. But that night, after a heated argument and a disciplinary slap from her mother, Meena’s underlying mental turmoil reached its boiling point.
“She was facing mental health issues,” officials shared. As the household slumbered, Meena, armed with a sharp knife first attacked her mother, then her 27-year-old sister, Malti. Her youngest sister, Mansi, woke to a nightmare, witnessing the attacks and suffering injuries herself.
While Mansi survived, Daniben and Malti were not as fortunate. The Gandhidham police, under Inspector J P Jadeja, pieced together Meena’s troubled past, marked by mental illness and previous aggressive incidents, revealing a harrowing portrait of a troubled teen pushed to the brink.
In another incident in September 2023, another story of adolescent fury unfolded in Kutch. This time, the central figure was a 17-year-old girl caught in a web of forbidden love and betrayal. The victim was her own mother, Laxmi Bhatt.
The Mundra Marine police’s investigation led to a shocking revelation – the teenage daughter, her mother’s lover, 37-year-old Yogesh Jotiyana, and his associate, Naran Jogi, were the architects of this sinister plot. Their motive? A vehement objection from Laxmi to the illicit relationship between her daughter and Jotiyana.
The trio lured Laxmi to an isolated seashore near Hamirmora, under the guise of attending a social event. There, Jotiyana attacked Laxmi with a blunt weapon, killing her and hiding her body in a grave.
The backdrop of this tragedy was a tale of tangled relationships. Laxmi’s marriage to Jitendra Bhatt had brought her daughter into a volatile family environment. Laxmi’s affair with Jotiyana and the daughter’s subsequent romantic involvement with him laid the groundwork for the murder.
These two separate incidents, though distinct in their dynamics, paint a disturbing picture of teenage angst and its potential to manifest in extreme violence.
In Sundarpuri, a young girl’s battle with mental illness and a lack of familial understanding culminated in a tragic loss of life. In Kutch, a complex interplay of illicit romance, teenage rebellion, and familial tensions led to a premeditated murder.
They are not just isolated cases of familial discord but rather symptomatic of deeper societal and psychological issues in Gujarat leading to teenage rage.
–IANS
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