|
|
.jpg) |
 Crime Watch |
|
Tragic Atrocity in Ndirande
Wednesday, 7 th October 2009
A horrendous atrocity, resulting in the tragic death of a 4-year old boy, who was bludgeoned on the head with a large rock after having witnessed the vicious assault and rape of two women, was committed upon an innocent family living in Ndirande, a teeming high density residential suburb in Blantyre Malawi, at approximately 2am on the night of Tuesday, 6 th October 2009,. The women are currently battling for their lives at the Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital – in Blantyre.
A horrified eye-witness, Paul Mwase, said that he and a group of people had managed to catch one of the thugs wielding a panga knife (machete) and interrogated him on the identities and whereabouts of the rest of the gang, but the thug has remained resolutely silent.
Mr. Mwase went on to say: “we reported the matter to the Police, but it took them more than 1 and half hours to get there. We even tried to call the Rapid Response 997, but their number was out of reach.”
The apprehended suspect has since been delivered to the police for further interrogation, but there does not appear to be much public confidence in law enforcement institutions due to the significant lack of successes posted by the Police Service of late. The public cynicism is further reinforced by the ‘laisser faire’ attitude and outright negligence displayed by Policemen at the crime scenes that have become a frequent feature of the violent crime pandemic that appears to be sweeping through the country of late; “fingerprints are not taken, vital evidence is ignored, the police seem more interested in the cash taken than any description of the thugs” are common complaints lodged by most victims.
We are, as a nation, living very close to the edge between civilization and savagery and may not need much stimulus to push us into a descent into ‘the heart of darkness’. This callous attitude manifested by the Police Service may goad ordinary people, who normally are law abiding, into taking the law into their own hands and dispensing ‘mob justice’ out of sheer rage and frustration. This will inevitably include injuries and mortalities inflicted upon innocent people due to acts committed by unreasoning mobs joined together by mass hysteria.
We therefore strongly urge the Police to exercise extreme speed, thoroughness, diligence and transparency in bringing this case to justice, lest they lose the few shreds of credibility that still remain in the public mind, and we begin an irreversible slide into anarchy.
|
