The ilk of Fritzls

They seem to have crawled out of the woodwork, or cellars, or the proverbial closet, whatever you may want to call it. But ever since Mr Fritzl had his incestuous barbarity exposed, cases of the sort seem to be a dime a dozen. There was the British man who did a tad worse than Fritzl (the fact that the British media covered that incident significantly lesser than the case of the Austrian has as many explanations as you care to come up with). And in the last couple of months I have been in India, I have already read of a few reports of some father or the other abusing the daughter, sometimes in active collusion with the mother, or even worse.

And today, I read about a mother in USA who drugged her 13-year old daughter so that her own 40-year old boyfriend could impregnate her own daughter. All because she herself couldn't have children anymore. Interesting.

Brutality notwithstanding, is it that incest has become more commonplace? Or is it that it has come to be more widely reported and publicised? Or has it become a lot more taboo than it was before and hence the increased aversion to it? I mean, Oedipus is as famous as they come, and if not, there exist counterparts in almost all mythologies. And in certain parts of the world, marriages within the family, albeit extended, is more the norm than the exception.

In the case of Fritzl, fellow Austrian Mr Freud would have certainly had a thing or two to say, and would have used it as an example of some theory or the other of his. You know, how it all somehow relates to some element of the id, or maybe even the ego. And how they triumphed over the super-ego, crushing the 'normal' morality that imposes itself on most peoples' instincts. But in the case of this North American mother, he might have to add or deduct a few analytical thoughts, seeing as it extends to the realm of maternity too, almost to seeing the girl-child as an extension of the womb (literally).

Ah, I wish someone would give me a stethoscope and the quintessential white coat and leave me in a room full of these real life people who make news every other day by defying what we call normal. I would happily plod along listening to their tales till they decide to lynch me. And oh, someone get it all on camera please. It will certainly make for excellent reality TV.