Pay attention to victims’ suffering
THE headline that faced me on Monday morning was the horrific deaths of young children at the hands of gangs (“He’s in a safer place now – grieving Helenvale mom”). Should we focus on the reasons why?
That takes time I fear we don’t have, so while some ponder the reasons why a person in cold blood kills children in the name of a gang, and the intellectual reports and such, another few children could be put in their graves.
Maybe it’s far too late to ask questions why and start saying what are we going to do about it – to stop this murder? We should never make excuses why grown men murder children, or anyone for that matter.
Oh it’s their past or no future or they are addicted to drugs or this and that. If I have to bury my child, I don’t care if the murderers had a bad upbringing or a bad day or they had to prove something to another murderer.
As adults we should be protecting our children and the community from violent criminals. A criminal has choices and should in turn take the punishment and that punishment should be harsh, very harsh.
Killing a child or anyone in cold blood should result in a life sentence, no bail and no out early for good behaviour.
Life should mean life. It shouldn’t matter if overseas stats say it’s not a deterrent, but to the mother of that murdered child it’s justice.
It won’t bring that child back, but the killer cannot do it again. Each person who’s had a friend or family member murdered wants justice for the victim, and we should give that to them in respect of that person who perished and the families who live on.
Remember they are the innocents, we should therefore be focusing on the families and the victims more, and less about the perpetrator. We should be focusing on rehabilitating the families and the victims, and supporting them to get back to some normality and not so much on the criminals.
They have choices, they chose to murder. Then they must face the consequences.
Life in prison is tough and that’s what they think they are – so they have to live with it.
L Ziehl, Port Elizabeth
