Editorial
Two helpless girls
Track down their parents' killers
The two young daughters of a couple murdered in the city in March last year are suffering from an acute sense of insecurity. That is because the alleged killers of their parents, now out on bail, have been threatening to kill them if they mean to testify against them in court. As the young women, Bithi and Iti, would have us know, the fact that their parents' alleged killers are now free has compelled them to seek shelter away from their home every night. It is a situation that is deeply worrying not only for the women but for the rest of us as well and for some patent reasons.
Where is the guarantee that these two young women, one of whom was a witness to the murder of their parents, will be safe from those who committed the crime last year? The sheer helplessness of the women raises the question of legal and police protection for the families of victims of crime. But if alleged killers out on bail are audacious enough to threaten people with fresh new murder, the question arises as to what the state means to do about it. Of course, individuals accused of crimes can and are granted bail. But once that is done, it should be the job of the authorities at both the legal and police levels to ensure that those out on bail are kept under strict surveillance so that they do not go underground and do not go around threatening those who had filed cases against them. The High Court in August last year directed the police authorities to provide protection to Bithi and Iti after a report on their condition appeared in this newspaper. Why have the police not done their job?
We believe that in view of a general diary filed by Bithi late last month, it is important that the men out on bail be tracked down and taken into custody. The two young women are clearly caught in a state of double jeopardy. If their parents' killers get to them before the law gets to the killers, the horrific consequences can only be imagined.
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