THERE are far too many instances of crimes committed on grounds that are described as ‘crimes of passion.’ There is this case of a Guyanese woman who was brutally stabbed to death by her husband in her Richmond Hill Queens home in the full presence of her nine-year-old daughter. According to police reports, the terrified girl watched helplessly as her mother was fatally stabbed in the neck and the chest during a domestic dispute. And even more recently, a 33-year-old woman was brutally murdered by her husband at her Blankenburg residence, West Coast Demerara in full view of a six-year-old boy.The man, according to media reports, is on the run, possibly on his way to neighbouring Suriname. 
Cases such as these are not uncommon. It is difficult to think of any thing more traumatic and agonising than to watch someone you love so dearly being attacked and killed, especially if you are too young to offer any kind of assistance to the victim as in the case of that young girl. Such moments could have lasting effects on her life and would require much counselling and therapy to overcome.
I sometimes wonder what happens in the minds of people who are moved to such extremes as to murder someone who at one time or the other provided comfort and love. True enough, we are all human and our make-up is as such that we cannot avoid at times the pangs of anger and jealousy. This is normal. What is not normal is when people feel hurt or outraged to such an extent that they lose their sense of balance and commit acts that are criminal and unlawful.
Passion is no reason to commit crimes. Whenever such tendencies prevail it is more a case of a maladapted or  sick mind.  Sociologists differ on whether such behaviour are the result of nature or nurture, that is to say, whether some people are, as it were, born with innate criminal tendencies or whether such criminal behaviour resulted  from a weak socialisation process in which the family or the community failed to instil the norms and values that are essential for a fully socialised and adaptive individual.
Regardless of how one may wish to explain such a phenomenon, it is beyond the imagination to understand how and for what reason a person would commit acts of murder, rape and sexual abuse on children, some of whom are still in their infant stages of their lives as in the case of that 9-year old girl who was allegedly raped by a 50-year old man who was considered a family friend.
The thought of men committing rape on elderly citizens, some in their sunset years is most repulsive and can only be the work of warped minds. Many of these are drug addicts and persons on substance abuse who have completely lost their faculties of reason and in the process their status as a member of civilized society. These people must be put away by the authorities for the safety and good of society.
According to a recent study, roughly 60% of women in Guyana who are involved in relationships suffer physical or emotional abuse at some time during the course of their relationships. This is an unacceptably high figure which is not specific to Guyana. Studies in both developed and developing countries showed that between 20 and 67 percent of women globally experience violence in relationships.
Guyana’s President Donald Ramotar only recently announced a no-nonsense approach to domestic abuse at a staff conference hosted by the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security. According to the President, it is a criminal and abhorrent act when any woman is abused emotionally, mentally or physically and no woman should be the victim of sexual or domestic violence.
What is needed is a change of mindset, one in which abuse is not seen as a private family matter that should be settled within the confines of the home or be brushed under the carpet. Instead, it should be seen as a public issue in which society through the relevant institutions of the state are directly involved as in the case of some of the more industrialised countries such as the United States and Canada, where any family member including children can call the cops in cases of distress.
In Guyana, and many other so-called traditional societies women prefer to suffer in silence rather than face up to the ‘stigma’ of being exposed to the wider community as the victim of spousal abuse. Because of this, many cases are left unreported and therefore the true extent of the problem is often understated.
Our women and young girls must be protected from predators and ‘sick’ elements in our society. As mentioned, these people must be put away for the collective good of society.