Editorial
Child brutality on the rise
Root causes need addressing
We have been witnessing an alarming rise in incidents of brutalising children and killing them just for realising ransom money or as a reprisal against somebody.
What concerns us most are the methods the killers use in pursuit their bestial instincts.
The recent incident of strangling of a 13-year old schoolboy, Naim, at Kahalu in Bogra and then burning of his corpse in the furnace of a brick kiln just for ransom has jolted the conscience of society. In this case, main culprit Zakaria could not be nabbed until Thursday.
Unfortunately, this is not the first instance of such monstrosity. Not long ago, another victim of ransom, seven-year-old Tanmoy, was killed by his abductors in the Darussalam area of the city.
These reports from the capital city alone are but the tip of the iceberg. No end of such blood-curdling instances of brutality is in sight, few of which are being reported in the media.
Undoubtedly, these appalling cases of brutalities involving children indicate worsening law and order situation in the country. And in most cases, the police, if they are able to sniff it at all, cannot stop the monstrosities happening. Worse still, they often fail to arrest the perpetrators in time, far less bring them to court.
Considering the nature of the dastardly murders, one feels impelled to look for deeper causes rooted in society than in apparent motivation of the persons committing such outrage.
It is time for experts on social psychology to look into the abnormality in the mental make-up of the perpetrators of the crimes. They may also come up with explanations as well as provide suggestions to address these types of mental aberrations among some members of society.
The government and the community should take up the issue seriously to think out some ways to rid society of these kinds of social evils.
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