An enraged mob set fire to a woman and her husband after the body of a five-year-old boy was found in the septic tank of the couple’s Behala house.

A four-year-old boy kidnapped by his private tutor was found in a Behala pond — gagged, blindfolded and dead.

A 14-year-old table tennis champ withdrew from a practice session against his father’s wishes. The father lost his cool. His wife came running out of the kitchen, to see her son lying on the floor. He was rushed to a hospital, where he was declared dead.

A disputed lbw decision in a Howrah club match led to Rabin Ash being repeatedly hit on his head with a stump. He died of sustained bleeding in the brain.

Is there something wrong with Calcutta? Once known as a safe city and the cultural capital of India, Calcutta is today being marked out as the city of cruelty. More and more gruesome crimes are being committed in the eastern megapolis — leaving its people in a state of shock.

Heinous crimes, of course, are not new to Calcutta. There was Sajal Barui, for instance, who murdered his father, stepmother and stepbrother in 1993 when he was 16. And there was Sudipa Pal, 17, who killed her parents and grandparents because her mother had come to know about her relationship with her tutor. But those were the exceptions. Crimes such as these are now seemingly the rule.

“Gruesome, morbid crimes are on the rise,” warns Geetanath Ganguly, executive chairman, State Legal Aid Services, West Bengal. The crime profile, experts agree, has changed in recent times. In March this year, veteran doctor Jayanta Ghosh was kidnapped for ransom and then found with his throat slit. In February, 48-year-old Ravinder Kaur Luthra was strangled by her decade-old domestic help. And then came Howrah quack Jayanta Bag, who killed his nine-year-old daughter and attempted to murder his wife before committing suicide. Investigations revealed that Bag, along with his wife and sister-in-law, was involved in a pornographic trade racket.

The official figures, however, continue to showcase Calcutta as a city where crime is on the decline. The city’s Crime Record Bureau says there were 58 murders in 2002, 43 in 2005 and 25 in 2006. “Compared with any city in the country, Calcutta is a hundred times better,” asserts the director of the city’s Crime Record Bureau Institute, Sarvesh Chandra. Calcutta police commissioner Prasun Mukherjee doesn’t believe that gruesome crimes are on the rise either. He argues that crime is more visible today than ever before — thanks to the growth of the media. “But, yes, crime patterns are changing from the traditional to more modern modes of execution,” he says.

What is clear is that the image of the city is changing as well. Over 50 per cent of Calcuttans among 350 people randomly surveyed by The Telegraph believe that Calcutta is a killing field. While 35 per cent admit that they are more cautious with their neighbours, 65 per cent feel that Calcutta’s changing skyline has fuelled insecurity. The increasing number of high-rise buildings encourages an exclusive campus lifestyle, marring the spirit of a community culture.

Thirty per cent of Calcuttans attributed the more morbid crimes to fewer interactions among people. “Forty years ago, para culture — popular interaction in a residential area — was the city’s strength,” says writer Mahasveta Devi. “The local residents would take it upon themselves to keep their locality safe and secure. Social bonding was then very strong.” Ganguly holds that the trend in rising blood and gore is linked to urbanisation, but primarily blames the small screen for it. “The most influential factor is TV. As far as picking up the pattern of a crime is concerned, what could influence more than a pictorial blueprint,” Ganguly asks.

Many agree. Satarupa Sanyal, director of the much-acclaimed film Anu, which explored layers of violence against a Naxalite backdrop, says the crime in the city is not unexpected. “The small screen has groomed us for this. Starting from the Baghdad bombing, to morbid violence back home, TV has imparted violence a cricket-like character — exciting, fun, nail biting.”

There are other factors as well. Commissioner Mukherjee refers to a “pervading impatience” among the people. “Consequently, they are turning more impulsive. As youngsters we too used to play and fight but we knew where to draw the line. But nowadays hitting a friend with a wicket on his head is no big deal.” Not surprisingly, about 18 per cent of the people surveyed by The Telegraph admit that their first instinct in any heated situation is to smash their opponent’s head or slap him hard enough to break his jaw. While six to seven per cent said that they would try to sort it out verbally, only one per cent said they’d try to settle matters with a smile.

That’s where the problem lies,” says Mukherjee. “With a greater amount of competition and the pressures of modern living, Calcuttans are losing their sense of humour. Fifteen years ago, you would see the city bubbling with adda and laughter.” A reality check by psychiatrists reveals that the situation is alarming. Consultant psychiatrist Mahuya Ghosh points out that in 2000 she received two among 10 cases a month where the patient needed professional help. Today, five among 10 of her patients every month are diagnosed with a remarkably high emotional disorder. “Crime is becoming an inevitable part of our everyday life. A new daredevil attitude is the order of the day,” she says.

Ishita Sanyal, director, Disha, an organisation that works on child guidance and development, believes that the codes of living are changing drastically, giving birth to a host of new desires. “If you can’t achieve them, you feel depressed and defeated. This in turn can have serious consequences for the nature of your outbursts. One is so desperate that crossing the line is no issue.”

The disorders — and their impact — have been garnering eyeballs too. Every other Bangla channel airs crime-based shows. While Tara has Tarar Nazar at 10.30 pm from Monday to Thursday, Calcutta TV’s Lalbazar is telecast five days a week. ETV Bangla’s Crime Diary is in close competition with Akash Bangla’s Police Diary which is aired at 9.30 pm from Monday to Saturday. Star Ananda focuses on drama-representation formats of crimes.

Despite the number of crime programmes on TV, the demand for crime thrillers spills over in other areas too. Small-time businessmen running local VCD-DVD stores say that the demand for crime films has gone up by 10 to 12 per cent in the last couple of years. Crime, truly, seems to be the flavour of the season. Salil Sarkar, the script writer of the Bengali feature film Chakrabyuha which dealt with crime, is now making a digital crime feature which focuses on morbidity in a marital relationship, replete with deceit and sexual perversion.“I intend to shock my viewers. We’re living amidst morbidity. When in a city even the daily news is presented like a crime thriller, nothing is likely to register unless it is shocking. When murder is no big deal, and when irrational impulse is the prelude to fulfilling one’s desire, what else do you do but resort to negative elements to achieve a more integrated, positive point?”

Ganguly, on the other hand, stresses that the law has to be stringent. “The Evidence Act should certainly be changed. Circumstantial evidence often fails to nail the criminal and he goes free,” says the state Legal Aid Services’ executive chairman. “It has to be remembered that if one criminal is nabbed, 100 potential criminals can be stopped from committing a future crime.”

Mahasveta Devi rues that the Left Front government, despite ruling for 30 years, has failed to instil “basic human values” among the people. “However, Calcuttans themselves should be more alert to ensure safety and security,” she adds.

That said, despite our encounters with the darker side of life, police commissioner Mukherjee’s message to Calcuttans is to “be patient and tolerant.” And, of course, “don’t forget to laugh”. Who knows? We may end up disarming even the most dangerous of criminals. And clear our own minds as well.