It’s easy to blame, point fingers
A recent video went viral about a boy being forced to eat fresh and raw corn he allegedly stole from a maize field. The act was meant to punish him, but it brought the opposite effect on viewers. The youngster was tied, doused with cold water, beaten as he was forced to down a mouthful of the uncooked food item. Well, sympathy got the best of the situation and he is now singing a different tune from the traumatising experience. He and his mother have been showered with gifts and perhaps chapters to his story continue to be written in the sense that his fortunes may still be on their way.
But I am not dwelling on him or the many people that want to share the already set stage for individual gratifications. I want to talk to the nation, about how we all jump on a case, complain, judge, curse or reprimand perpetrators on social media and do nothing. Once a story trends, we go along with it until it fades and is forgotten. Soon, we look for what’s new without giving an initial case its conclusion. I am sure that if society reacted correctly rather than rhetorically, many of such cases would have been checked right within our communities and averted.
Today, it is the corn boy. Tomorrow it will be someone else. Recently, it was about a 13-year-old whose arms were amputated following a four-day ordeal after being tied behind his back for allegedly stealing K13 000. People ranted until he was just another statistic.
A few years ago, a video of a woman ambushed and beaten by other women on suspicion of dating a husband to one of them. She was humiliated on camera as the perpetrators undressed her. I have seen several of such videos, with some perpetrators brought to book and serving jail time while others remain free.
Cases come and go with happy recipients typing away their thoughts instead of rising up to do something. There is so much the law can do in finding and dealing with perpetrators. There is, however, a lot people can do to break the cycle because the power is in their hands. There is a reason one is beaten or undressed, but is that the correct way of dealing with it? What are the alternatives? There is also a reason these boys or criminals in general are perpetrating for them to face the music. But is there only one way of dealing with them? I am not condoning mob justice, perhaps those who commit it do not know any better. We need holistic approach to these issues for sanity to prevail. Otherwise everything will remain a viscous circle of events.
We cannot jump to rescue victims when they are also victimisers. Let’s be proactive by identifying root causes to ensure youngsters remain safe and within thier bounds just like mob justice should be dealt with. It begins with action and offering tangible alternatives to both ends for a win win situation. Law enforcement agencies, too, need to build trust to be allowed to handle cases professionally. Without trust, frustration sets in.
I am avoiding to my views on possible solutions because I would love society to come up with its own. If corn boy was genuinely prompted to steal, then society failed him or his mother. If he allegedly stole it for selfish reasons, the blame bounces right back at society. Think about it.
