Chennai: Techie Swathi’s slaying could be a case of ‘delusion of love’ suffered by an introvert reacting in rage to his advances being rejected, according to noted psychiatrist Dr S. Nambi. “But we cannot say unless the suspect is examined for his mental status”, he said sounding cautious. “In this case, this man had studied engineering and was almost jobless. And then, he sees this girl and could have assumed she liked him. In the last few months, he would have done little else than following her, in physical terms and also in his mind. He almost deluded that she should be with him and could have gone berserk when she did not respond the way he wanted.
“In situations such as these, I have come across cases, where the person had even created imaginary world living along with the one he/she is in love with”, he said. “It is known as infatuation in simple terms”, Dr Nambi told DC. “This type of stories are not uncommon; I have treated several cases of patients thinking that a celebrity, or an important person, is in love with them and reacting strangely”, he said. He recalled how a woman’s marriage broke because she was insisting that famous star Surya was stalking her and frequently phoning her.
And then, there was the case of a very senior executive in a public sector company assuming that then PM Indira Gandhi was in love with him. His antics had forced the police to lock him in preventive custody whenever she visited Tamil Nadu. Asked if Kamal’s film Guna was an example for ‘delusion of love’, the famed psychiatrist replied in affirmative.
