Stranger truth over ordinary fiction

Journalist Gerard de Souza’s debut book, ‘Crime of Passion’ was released sometime ago. He spoke about his book at the recently concluded Goa Arts
and Literature Festival (GALF). NT BUZZ caught up with the author to know more about the book centred on crime

KALYANI JHA | NT BUZZ

They say, ‘Truth is always stranger than the fiction’. With over 15 years experience in journalism, Gerard de Souza chose to turn his expertise of reporting and writing into a book.  ‘Crime of Passion’ presents some chosen startling crime stories without twists, and only facts.

Excerpts from the interview:

What attracted to you to journalism?

I always liked journalism. When I got to know of an opportunity in 2008, I felt it was something I would love doing. At that time, I knew very little about journalism, though I was aware of the job and chose to learn on the job. So and choosing a profession is one thing and sticking to a profession is another. I embraced journalism and then writing. Writing is easy once you understand how and what people like to read. I don’t claim to know everything. I only know only one style of writing; like a journalist. You put everything out there in the first the few paragraphs or in the first few pages if you are writing a book.

What was it like writing a book on crime, and digging through reports and getting in depth with it for the book?

A fellow journalist Mayabhushan Nagvenkar once mentioned that journalistic writing is what we do every day, in stories, reports, while writing a book is no different —but just that there is more time and more space as opposed to writing news reports for which there’s little space in the paper and limited time to put it together. I took on this book with that in mind. Each chapter reads like one news report, but an expanded one. Each story delves into who the people are. What they were doing the day the crime took place, why they did what they did. So basically each paragraph here is expanded on each line of what would be a news report. Until I wrote the first chapter I was not sure if my writing was good or interesting enough. My book isn’t like a thriller or filled with suspense until the end. Rather, it delves into lives of the people involved, explaining why they did what they did. As you read many of the stories, you will realise these are just everyday incidents. But it is about how a person reacted at that moment in a way that made it a crime and how to cover-up the crime, they commit brutal acts. The book showcases the fine line between being normal and being a hardcore criminal.

Did the crimes affect you as you covered?

Yes. It made me think about how people end up becoming criminals because of passion. It cannot happen to most people but it can happen to anyone. I felt people also needed to know that crime is not something that only criminals do. There is no criminal or non-criminal. As readers or an audience when we look from the outside at a particular crime we often try to assume reasons for the crime. And sometimes the reason is mundane, very simple or it’s not some major conspiracy, not some major planned act. It happens in the spur of the moment, for various reasons. Sometimes for a stupid reason. They end up doing things they never intended. In some cases they planned something and ended up doing something else, like in the Scarlet Keeling case. There was never the intent to kill Scarlet. In all cases except one, people have been convicted, except in one case where trial is underway— mutton soup murder. In the case of the murder of a nun in Kerala, those convicted have appealed again.

How did you choose these 11 stories for the book?

The common theme was obviously passion, because I set out to write a book of crimes carcarried out in the name of love, where indivisuals committ act of violence because they love someone. Or they claim to love the person they killed.

I tried to focus on cases that had a story to tell. High-profile stories make for better reading. I have chosen stories that have some kind of interesting angles. In mutton soup murder, it would have been an ordinary killing had they not tried to disfigure the boyfriend’s face to make him look like the husband. She attempted to dispose of the body so that she could claim that she was living with her husband. People do weird things and I tried to pick and choose the more interesting ones.

What is it like covering crimes as a journalist?

I didn’t start off as crime journalist. Initially I covered a range of issues, both social and political. The good thing about being a crime journalist is that not too many gruesome crimes take place in Goa. When covering crime I try to cover it as plainly as possible, not attribute a motive that may or may not be there. On the day of reporting we don’t know why it happened. Sometimes we don’t have all the information. We just know for instance, a body has been found. So a lot of details are very sketchy in the first few days, and we are as lost sometimes, as the readers are. We attempt to put out as much as we know. So, it is not rocket science and it is not about trying to conduct some investigation. A lot of journalists try to assume things. The reason for crime sometimes can be very simple and not some complicated entangled love story. There was a case where a classmate killed his friend because he wanted a school holiday. There are very unthinkable reasons why people do what they do. The only person who knows why he did what he did is the person who did it. If you try to get entangled into creating a story that doesn’t exist, it will do more harm than good. And our task as journalists is conveying information, not trying to make a film. It’s not trying to write a thriller story. We can leave that to a fiction writer. They say the truth sometimes is stranger than fiction. Our job as journalists is to be messengers taking information and putting it out in the public. Nothing more than that.

Does anything still shock you when it comes to crimes or are you numb by now?

What shocks me is how stupid people are and how they think they will get away with what they do. As a journalist I sometimes think I could be a great advisor to criminals, perhaps how to get away (laughs). I have read so many stories of what people did and how they end up getting caught. Now you know how you get caught and how you can get away without being caught.

This is series of crime passions. What can we expect next from you?

Not at the moment but I would like to eventually. I would like to pick and choose stories better and write in more detail. I would also like to write a story after interviewing or speaking to criminals after they make peace with themselves, because a heinous crime is a life altering experience irrespective of whether you get caught or not. That moment changes your life forever. And you either end up spending significant time behind bars or you will spend rest of the time running from law.

Which from the book would you term as the most gruesome of all?

I think the murder of the nun. It was most sinister and the cover-up post the crime done was the most shameless that I have ever come across. They were criminals from start to end. No one was innocent there. It appears that this was a case of evil intent from the start to end and that’s how it remained. Even today.

Is it possible to separate the human side of a person from the gruesome stories that are covered while keeping a neutral point of view?

Yes, because all the stories that I have covered so far did not involve someone I personally knew. But when my work becomes personal, things would take a different turn. A lot of the crimes that occur are where victims are attacked by the person whom they already know. As a crime writer, I realise that people do ordinary things but they end up doing extra ordinary acts of violence. I kind of sympathise with the criminals sometimes; not all the time because I understand that humans are emotional beings. It is terrible for the person who dies, who suffers. As human beings there are no black and white villains, there is a lot of grey area in between. Sometimes, I kind of understand they ‘whys’ and ‘hows’. I try not to judge.