Last Tuesday’s headlines screamed of another woman killed, and in finer print, there were several stories of rape cases that were engaging the attention of the courts.

However, one story featured a couple where, after years of unbearable abuse, the woman retaliated – whether in self-defence or not is moot, because one’s tolerance level has a saturation point, when one is thrown mentally out of kilter and does not, cannot, act in a sane or rational way.
It was reported that the police are searching for the woman.
But where was the police when, for years preceding this incident, the woman was being tortured by this monster on two legs?

His mother told the police that her son was sleeping when the act was committed, inferring that her son was an innocent victim, but was she there, and where is her proof that this was the scenario? Also, why was her voice silent and she made no disclosures to the police when her son was battering his wife? Is the wife without feelings? Or does the mother of her daughter-in-law have no angst toward the treatment meted out to her child?

Rape, incest, battery, every type of abuse is committed against the innocents in society with impunity every day, and it is only when a situation escalates to the point of tragedy then someone in authority takes notice.

Many NGOs draft fine-sounding documents to generate international and national funding to address these issues and fail to deliver on their documented promises.

One organization, which is a front for a political party and purports to support battered women and abused persons, instead have devised ways their membership can hold administrative portfolios and draw super-salaries, with scant benefits redounding to the target group.

Many talk shops are held, with no follow-up on implementation, and funding agencies seem not to care, because the advising agents of donor bodies become popular members of local cocktail circuits and abandon the responsibilities inherent in their mandate, which is to ensure that project funding is spent in verifiable ways to fulfill the requisite objectives.

But, over and above all, we are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers, so how can we stand apart as a woman or a child is abused and make no move to provide succour, even if by making consistent reports?

Whether heeded or not by the police, and whether the victim, who may be constrained in inexplicable ways, co-operates, it is the duty of every human being to circumvent injustice, or else at least make a credible attempt.

One popular promoter who kidnapped and raped a young woman is currently out on bail, still enjoying his luxurious and sporty lifestyle, while that young woman will carry scars to her grave. Where is the justice here? Our lawmakers and keepers need to get real and serious about their mandate.

They need to recognize that in their roles, which are primed toward imparting justice, there is no place for friendships, because everyone is equal within the parameters of the law, and must be judged and dealt with irrespective of social or financial distinctions.

One newly-appointed female magistrate assigned to a court in Berbice is giving no quarters to abusers. This young lady grew up in a home where she witnessed absolute respect always being accorded to her mother by her father, and unlimited love showered on herself and siblings by the head of their home, and, young as she is, she recognizes that this is the only acceptable equation that will build stable homes within the national framework.

Older heads should take cognizance of her efforts, for the Lord has decreed that a child should lead them.