PANDORA’S BOX:
Several months ago a couple belonging to prominent families carefully, methodically staged a kidnapping scenario designed to punish parents with whom they had disagreements.

Those were adults, one a member of a very respected profession, so expectations of responsible behaviour in such persons were very high, and that is why everyone was convinced that they had been kidnapped.

A nationwide manhunt, causing much expenditure of taxpayers’ dollars, and resulting in great anger and angst in communities targeted for police searches – communities which, because of activities in the very recent past, are always suspect in such instances, but which in this case were justifiable in claiming innocence of any culpability in the disappearance of the couple.

After days during which the entire nation prayed for the safe return of this attractive professional couple while the parents agonised over their fate, they coolly sauntered back, without any remorse for the agony, inconvenience, and angst that they had caused to their parents and the entire nation, not to mention the waste of man hours and precious resources of Guyana’s security services.

Was this not a crime, so why was no retribution meted out to the culprits?

A couple of weeks ago, teenaged Amanda Rampersaud disappeared from her parents’ home, presumably kidnapped by another teenager who had been provided sanctuary in the home.

Several days later Jasoda Mahase was reported missing by her parents.

The name of the presumed kidnapper, who is an adult, although a teenager, was never mentioned in the press, but any discerning person can read between the lines.

The male accomplice of the kidnapper ran away when the police showed up with the mother when she turned up with the ransom demanded, but the parents refuse to press charges against the kidnapper.

Kidnapping is a serious criminal offence, and this woman can identify her accomplice, so why have the police abdicated their responsibility and not press charges against the culprits?

Last I heard Henry Greene was Commissioner of Police and not Naresh or Sally Rampersaud, so why are they allowed to decide whether or not prosecution should be pursued on a very serious criminal offence such as kidnapping?

Why for all the days that the alleged kidnapper stayed in the house of the Rampersauds did her parents not report her missing; so can one deduce that her parents were also part of the plot?

These are serious things that the police should investigate, unless they want a proliferation of such incidents.

Awhile back a couple of schoolboys staged the kidnapping of one in order to get money from the parents. All the while the teenager had been comfortably ensconced in a shack on the railway embankment, presumably with the full knowledge and complicity of the adult occupants.

Persons drink and drive, or speed recklessly on the highways, kill someone else, and are allowed to live their own lives after “settling” the matter.

The Chronicle has been pursuing the phenomenon of members of the judiciary and magistracy sending away persons charged with serious criminal offences with a mere tap on the wrists, resulting in many instances of the perpetrators repeating the offence, often with tragic consequences to their victims.

Ralph Ramkarran wrote a moving feature on the fallout of such laxity, drawing an example from an agonisng scenario – one of hundreds – told and untold.

Roshan Khan and Johnny Kowlessar, very respected members of the society, have been trying to get some relief from serious noise pollution that is affecting so many aspects of their lives and lifestyles, with no success whatsoever.

If these influential members of the entrepreneurial fraternity cannot receive justice in this society what can the average citizen hope to achieve by complaining to the police?

There is a church in Adelphi, East Canje that awakens neighbours, some of whom work night shifts and need their morning sleep, every day with cacophonous shouting, stamping and tromping over loudspeakers. Children who study late in the nights for exams and need that extra sleep find themselves being fatigued before their school day is over.

Sundays, which are supposed to be a day of peaceful relaxation for families who pursue their various working and education-acquisition activities all week, have become days of exquisite torture as members of this church rock the earth to gain the ears of Heaven; but last I heard God is not deaf.

He can even hear your prayers even before they are formulated. Ranting and raving would only cause pain and discomfort to people who need their peace. They are not God and don’t need to hear anyone’s supplications.

The police mandate is “to protect and serve,” and allowing culprits to break the laws with impunity can, and often do, result in disastrous consequences. The implications of “settling” criminal matters between private parties are many and varied, not least is causing the public to wonder how far did the “payoff” extend.