The murder of Sharadha Madan, 27, has been trending all across the media. Moreover, it is now widely known that Aftab Amin Poonawalla, the man who murdered Shraddha Walkar, was an avid watcher of the Showtime crime drama “Dexter”. Surprisingly, he even claimed to have drawn inspiration from the show while burying his live-in partner/girlfriend Sharadha Madan.
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However, this is not the first instance of horrifying violence being motivated by a crime drama. Notably, things like crime series, movies, violent video games, novels etc had been earlier also found to inspire many individuals who committed gruesome crimes.
Moreover, glamorizing characters like the tragic clown played by Joaquin Phoenix in Joker or the serial killer played by Christian Bale in American Psycho, both of whom have gained popularity among teenagers on the Internet who view them as “sigma males,” is now regarded as an alarming situation.
What Was The Series “Dexter” About?
American criminal drama Dexter was a Showtime television programme that ran from October 1, 2006, until September 22, 2013. Notably, the series, shot in Miami, centres on Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall), a forensic expert in bloodstain pattern analysis for the made-up Miami Metro Police Department who also has a secret side job as a vigilante serial killer who hunts down murderers who have not received adequate justice from the legal system because of corruption or procedural irregularities.
Furthermore, the first book in a series by Jeff Lindsay, Darkly Dreaming Dexter (2004), served as the inspiration for the first season of the television programme. Moreover, James Manos Jr., who created the pilot episode, adapted it for television.
Numerous honours have been given to the programme, including the two Golden Globes that actors John Lithgow and Hall, each received, for playing Dexter Morgan and Arthur Mitchell, respectively. Notably, the season finale of Season 4 was shown on December 13, 2009, which was viewed by 2.6 million, setting a new record for Showtime’s most-watched original series episode.
However, in contrast to Poonawalla’s case, Dexter’s murders were committed for very different reasons. Going back to Dexter, it’s possible that Poonawalla viewed the protagonist as an ideal role model.
Though in the series, Dexter used to hunt the murderers, while in Sharadha Madan case, Poonawalla brutally killed her, and the reason is still unknown! The sole distinction is that Dexter Morgan is a serial killer with over 140 killings under his belt, as opposed to Poonawalla’s horrific single murder.
Watching TV shows, series, and reading crime related novels is a personal choice, but there are cases like Poonawalla, where some individuals get inspired by such stories and commit gruesome crimes.
