The gruesome act of bus driver, Santosh Mane, who went on the rampage, killing nine people and damaging more than 40 vehicles in Pune, has left psychiatrists baffled.
The gruesome act of bus driver, Santosh Mane, who went on the rampage, killing nine people and damaging more than 40 vehicles in Pune, has left psychiatrists baffled.
They fail to understand what could have triggered this extreme action.
Psychiatrists say such cases are usually associated with Western countries.
“The driver seems to be a mental patient with psychiatric illness or suffering from some personality disorder,” said Dr Nitin Dalaya, psychiatrist and director, Nityanand Institute of Medical Sciences.
“The first thing that needs to be ruled out is addiction, if he was under influence of drugs or alcohol. However, if he reported to duty normally and had a routine conversation after which he seemed to have ticked off, there could be a serious possibility of him suffering from personality disorder. In this condition, the person seems normal otherwise but a time bomb is ticking under the surface.”
People affected with personality disorders behave in a manner that is against societal norms or expectations and are known to have little control over their impulses.
Besides mental illness or addiction, several factors could lead to such incidents, said doctors.
“Most likely his act points towards a personality disorder that was went undetected for a long time. However, certain factors like past history of head injury, epilepsy and neurological problems might also trigger such acts. A detailed psychiatric analysis needs to be done, but most important is to calm him down first,” said Dr Suresh Pant, head of psychiatry department, KEM Hospital.
A few psychiatrists feel that high cost of living coupled with low salaries could be the cause of rising instances of anxiety and depression among public transport bus drivers. These causes combined with bad driving conditions, such as bad roads, traffic, noise pollution, compel the drivers to become mentally ill and take to drink, they added.
“The Pune incident could be due to extensive stress and result of displacement of anger, which was not resolved. This is commonly seen in high stressed jobs such as police force and public transport drivers,” said Dr Parul Tank, head of psychiatrist department at Rajawadi Hospital, and consultant psychiatrist at Fortis Hospital.
Inputs from Somita Pal
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