Jaipur, Nov. 3 -- An eight-month-old girl in Rajasthan's Karauli district allegedly became the means for her father to settle a dispute with relatives. After killing her, police said, he lodged a complaint accusing his nephews and their wives of the crime. Days later, Ramdev Jatav, 39, was arrested for allegedly killing his daughter following a family dispute. To be sure, none of the accused in the cases cited here has been convicted, and the allegations remain subject to trial. However, experts said that a succession of such incidents across Rajasthan raises questions about changing family relationships and weakening support systems within households. October 13-14: The alleged motives differ, but the cases point to conflicts within the closest family relationships. Ramchandra Jat allegedly ran over his son Ravindra and daughter-in-law Mahindra with an SUV in Changoi village in Churu. Police said the couple had opposed his intention to contest the sarpanch election, leading to repeated arguments. October 20: An uncle allegedly killed his two young nephews in Pura Sikrauda village in Dholpur before dying by suicide. Police linked the killings to a family dispute and longstanding resentment. The same day, the bodies of 13-year-old twins Vinay and Vishnu were found near their home in Badesara village in Deeg. Their mother, Preeti, and her alleged partner, Rajesh, were arrested for reportedly killing the boys over fears that their relationship would be exposed. October 27: 16-year-old Akshita alias Meenu was allegedly killed by her uncle, Omprakash alias Akash, following an argument in Kalyanpura village in Didwana-Kuchaman. Her grandmother was seriously injured while trying to intervene. Police said the accused subsequently attempted suicide and was hospitalised under police custody. Senior sociologist and former Rajasthan University professor Rajeev Gupta said financial aspirations and disputes over income, property and wealth were straining relationships across generations. "The pressures of consumerism and competition are contributing to frustration across generations. Within families, aggression and violence can become ways of asserting power and silencing those who question that authority," Gupta said. The NCRB's Crime in India 2024 report recorded 197 murder cases attributed to family disputes in Rajasthan, roughly one in eight of the state's 1,607 murder cases that year. The state also reported 10,578 cases of cruelty by husbands or their relatives. Former director general of police Ravi Prakash Mehrada attributed the trend partly to the weakening of traditional family support systems. Joint families, he said, once had senior members who acted as "shock absorbers" during conflicts and crises. "Society is changing. Everyone wants to extract the maximum from relationships. When those expectations are not met, people become angry and lose sight of their actions and their consequences, leading to such incidents," he said. Psychiatrist Dr Akhilesh Jain pointed to declining tolerance, poor communication and emotional distress as factors that could contribute to harmful behaviour. "Disregard of others' feelings and excessive ambition are, in various ways, affecting an individual's moral and social values. A lack of tolerance and a tendency to react immediately to trivial matters also hinder one's ability to assess the consequences of their own behaviour," Jain said. He stressed the importance of open communication."A brief pause in a moment of anger can prevent a lifetime of regret and avert harmful consequences," he said. The challenge is not only to establish responsibility after such killings but also to recognise escalating conflict, controlling behaviour and threats before violence turns fatal....