Murder by numbers

by Eagle Eye

Murdred Wasantha Zoysa(ITN.lk)

The loss of a human life is a tragedy. The UN Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC) states that 437,000 people were murdered globally during 2012.

Our nation was once again plunged into deep shock over the most cowardly and brutal homicide of martial arts champion Wasantha Zoysa.

Master Zoysa had brought fame to our motherland by his daring exploits in karate and displays of strength and endurance. In analyzing the way he was murdered by a violent group of about 15- 20 men, as seen on the CCTV footage, clearly demonstrates that some human beings, living in this high-tech era still have within their fractured psyche, traits of a pack animal.

Pack hunter

A pack hunter or social predator is an animal belonging to a pack which is able to stalk and hunt prey by working together. This includes the wolf, dolphins, lions, spotted hyenas and indeed humans!

There are also avian social predators like hawks and falcons. Even crocodiles who are generally solitary hunters have been known to ambush and take down prey in the 'pack hunt' manner. The bond between man and dog can also be traced to their mutual understanding of pack hunting and sharing their kill, in ancient times. This practice continues to this day as specialized dog breeds are used for hunting and rewarded with a portion of meat.

We may ask why did this killer not use a gun with a silencer, which is the current universal trend in direct assassinations? Why did they have to come in a large and obvious group, throw devices that caused mild fires within the restaurant and then proceed to attack the victim with iron bars and wooden clubs? This is very clearly indicative of their 'pack hunt' killer mentality.

Cooperative hunting

In the animal kingdom, we see this pattern as an act of "cooperative hunting' where meat-eating animals collectively hunt in groups. Here, the predators after selecting a large prey, knowing well that they cannot bring down the animal alone, and can only succeed in a combined killing effort. After locating their victim, they will surround and use tactics of intimidation by ferocious growling or roaring. They are relying on the safety in numbers.

Craig Packer and Lore Ruttan (1988) have studied this pattern of cooperative killing in animals and have come up with the theory of Evolutionary Stable Strategy ( ESS), where a pack combines to kill a prey, which is bound to increases their hunting efficiency, and perhaps minimize risk.

Whilst animals join in packs to simply hunt and survive, humans form and maintain gangs for criminal purposes.

Again, from the CCTV clip this is a gang style 'raid and kill' operation. It is simply absurd that some suspects in custody, according to news reports, are now saying that they wanted to intimidate the victim. This gruesome attack bears the hallmarks of a well-organized gang.

It is somewhat bizarre that the attackers wore hooded clothing (surely to conceal their identity) yet looked like members of the famous KKK in the United States.

By definition, a gang is a youth group whose involvement in illegal activity is part of their group identity. A study by the University of Kent, strongly suggests that there is always a kind of reciprocal relationship between gang members and their peers. These persons thrive in an atmosphere that not only fosters but glorifies delinquency. All members who are affiliated with a gang have antisocial and antiauthority mindsets.

Often they tend to blame their dead (murdered) victims for their own actions. They also display a proclivity for criminal activity which tends to grow as the members become more experienced. From a social and moral perspective, these troubled youth earnestly desire to gain respect and status. These actions can be further endorsed by the Control Theory, where people engage in deviant behaviour when their bond with society steadily weakens, often not noticed by family members.

There have been similar attacks and murders in the past, but this is unique as it was captured on camera. Instead of playing this incident down as some isolated village incident, society must accept that our pious nation has now witnessed a pre-meditated organized crime. Justice must be delivered swiftly.