The cold blooded and atrocious murder of the school boy Ritesh Gobin at Petite Rivière last week invites some comments. How on Earth can a grown up man of 37 yrs old use a cutter and slit opened the neck of an 11yr old boy who was trying to protect his younger sister from being sexually assaulted by that monster?
It is high time that society should do a proper reflection regarding the re-introduction of death penalty in this country. Besides over 80% of the Mauritian population are favorable to the idea because they say that enough is enough about crime rate in Mauritius. The question is: why should our society keep nourishing those murderers and killers in our 5 star prisons with three meals a day with the hard money earning from the sweat of our taxpayers
Crimes and punishments have always been the centre of debates many times in this country without any genuine solution for our society which is in constant danger by hard criminals who quite often commit cold blooded and frenzied murders. Some people of the “do-gooders” type seem to take a negative attitude about death penalty just to protect those hardened criminals. But never give a damn thought about families who have lost their loved ones in horrible murder cases. And yet those so called “do gooders” will do everything for the welfare of those criminals in prison. What about the victims’ family? Who cares about them? This is the question we need to ask!
Only recently the assizes court has sentenced a man to 60 years’ imprisonment for the cold blooded murder of a young girl. There is an appeal against that sentence and we won’t comment on that case itself as a respect to our Judiciary but suffice to say that we need a serious reflection to consider reintroduce the death penalty to curb the rising crime in the country.
Lots of ideas have been expressed criticizing our judiciary system for being too soft in dealing with criminal offenders. The majority of people, if a referendum were to be held, would demand the reintroduction of the death penalty.
It is worth seeing what some of the victims and public figures have to say on the issue before coming to a conclusion. A balanced judgment can be passed if we examine the opinions of ordinary people. To achieve this target, the opinions of all should be solicited without dragging party politics or any personal issue into the subject.
Present day society is very different from past society. In the past, crimes were very rare and most of the crimes were due to sudden anger or provocation. But today they are so different from those of the past. Most of the crimes are well-planned, premeditated, and carried out without the slightest care and remorse on the part of the criminals. Crime has become an industry. Therefore, we need to reflect about the reintroduction of the death penalty to curb the high crime rate.
Let us remember that when any criminal act distorts the order of society, it is the duty of the law to protect human beings. In South Africa a boy who had stolen four US Dollars was sentenced to 18 years’ rigorous imprisonment. This is how such a country reacts to crimes.
When analyzing the Mauritian situation, it is critical and alarming. A lot of crime takes place as a chain. Rape, child abuse, murders, etc… are very common. Who is responsible for this? As a society and as parents, teachers, religious dignitaries, politicians and media personnel, all of us are responsible for this situation.
I understand how human rights feel about death penalty. When it comes to such organization as human rights, my questions are simply how about being killed by another human being? Where do our human rights go when this happens? The law must come forward to protect society whenever there is disorder..
Today, if a woman can’t stay at her own home alone, how can we define privacy? If you can abuse a small boy for your own sexual satisfaction the law should be rectified to protect human beings and their right to life.
Many people say that the reintroduction of the death penalty is a very timely idea and it will help reduce the increasing crime rate in the country. In the Middle East Countries, fingers and hands are cut off even for minor offence like robbery. In those countries, shops are kept open without caretakers but nobody robs them. Jewellery shops are open without salesmen but there is nobody to rob them. Rape incidents are very rare.
Some politicians oppose death penalty for fear of being implicated but this should never be the case. Criminals are well-looked after in our prisons and crimes are becoming a sort of culture for them, which they can’t keep away from. Therefore, we need a strong deterrent to make these criminals realize that crimes have no place in a deccent society.
by Ahmad Macky
