3 February 2016 12:03 am Views - 4279
A child is always a treasure. But these treasures are devalued in today’s society since parents have much more to do than just taking care of children. When children face grave circumstances as a result of irresponsible parenting, parents would do anything to get their treasures back. The country was shocked to hear the mysterious death of a child in Sampoor whose body was found in an abandoned well last week. It was also found that a huge concrete block was tied around its body with a shoelace. Investigations are still under way to find the culprits behind this horrific crime. Some individuals shared their views with the Dailymirror about the incident.
The incident
Gugadas Dharshan, a 6- year- old boy from Sampoor who had been playing in his backyard was found missing on January 25. Although his parents went in search of him they had not been able to trace his whereabouts. So they had lodged a complaint with the police at around 7pm on the same day. During their search for the missing boy, on January 26 at around 2am, the police found his dead body in the well that was located a few metres behind their house. When the villagers recovered the body, they have been shocked to see a concrete block tied around its body with a shoelace. The boy was immediately taken to the Trincomalee Hospital where he was pronounced dead indicating that the child had been murdered. This clearly shows that the child had been murdered. However, although police dogs were taken to the scene of crime, they had moved away from the well to Dharshan’s house.
The Navy has nothing to do with it : Captain Akram Alavi
As soon as the incident was reported there were rumours that the murder was alleged to have been done by some navy personnel. However, Navy media spokesperson Captain Akram Alavi denied the allegations. “When people in the village are not pointing their fingers at the Navy it is obvious that some other faction is trying to defame us. The Navy has nothing to do with it.”
It’s time to take care of your children : J. Jenaarththanan
In his comments to the Daily Mirror, TNA party member of the Trincomalee District J. Jenaarththanan said that incidents of this nature should be given top priority. “Investigations are still under way but in future, people should always take care of their children without leaving them unattended. This is not the only incident that has taken place so far. The police and other institutions should take necessary steps to prevent repetitions.”
Crimes take place in a cycle of events : Prof. Harendra de Silva
Speaking about the incident, the former chairman of the National Child Protection Authority, Professor Harendra de Silva said that in the past people were not aware of child abuse. “Post postmortems are carried out by ordinary medical officers and therefore the exact cause of death is not be revealed immediately. We therefore need more qualified judicial medical officers (JMOs). Since there was a stone bound around his waist this has to be a murder. This is a country that has experienced trauma and engaging in crimes is nothing new to the people. When I was working with child soldiers I remember one of them saying that killing people was like eating biscuits. Crimes take place in a cycle of events. Firstly the people face violence, then they become violent and then it becomes a norm. Finally their actions are justified with reasons. One could say that a person A was a threat to a person B and therefore B killed A. In this example, the murder has been justified. When you are a part of a violent community, you are encouraged to be violent. On the other hand, the law has to be effective in order to track criminals. Over the past few decades we have seen an increasing trend in crimes and this will increase further. These issues need to be addressed considering their sociological and psychological aspects and should be handled by professionals. Whether it is Yahapalanaya or Suba Anagathayak, a crime is always a crime.”