India, Nov. 9 -- Some blame films. Others point to video games. There is talk too of the manosphere spreading ideas of toxic masculinity.

The epidemic of violence by men and boys is ongoing and deeply entrenched. Each time there's a particularly gruesome crime-a gangrape in a park, a body found dumped in a pond-there is a fresh bout of outrage, soon forgotten, until the next incident, when the cycle of hand-wringing begins all over again.

By now, it is clear that we are in the middle of a crisis of violent crimes committed by men and even very young boys.

I did not have the stomach to watch the video of the eight-year-old boy brutalising a six-year-old girl at their school in Panchkula, Haryana. The verbal description was gory enough. ...