Jungle justice not the way forward
LIKE all well-thinking Jamaicans, we are extremely relieved and happy that nine-year-old Phylisa Prussia and 13-year-old Winshae Barrett have been found alive after what must have been horrifying experiences for them.
Both girls, readers will recall, were abducted from their homes hours apart in Bath, St Thomas — Miss Prussia last Thursday and Miss Barrett on Saturday.
Closed circuit television footage showed the abduction of Miss Prussia resulting in the police identifying a man, a Mr Davian Bryan, as the person responsible for that crime.
No sooner had Miss Prussia been found, and word came that Miss Barrett was missing, the nation was told that Mr Bryan was the suspect in the second kidnapping.
The upshot is that Mr Bryan — who is out on bail for charges of rape and illegal possession of firearm in neighbouring Portland — is now a hunted man. His guilt or innocence in these kidnappings is yet to be proved. It is our fervent hope that he will be apprehended and taken before a court in order to establish whether or not he is the miscreant who subjected these innocent girls, their families, neighbours, and the wider country to such trauma.
But that’s a big hope, because, as we have seen, passions in Bath are inflamed and residents are already promising to subject him to jungle justice if they capture him.
While we understand the anger flowing through that community, we cannot condone any mob rule as a replacement for lawful pursuit of justice for aggrieved action.
It is very human to seek revenge for cruel and horrific actions taken against one’s loved ones. History is replete with crimes that turn the stomach of decent human beings, triggering an emotional rush to mob rule.
We have, in the past, seen people in residential communities, fed up at being targeted by thieves, take the law into their own hands and lynch individuals either caught in the act or merely suspected of guilt. Additionally, Jamaicans in rural areas where praedial larceny has been a painful but common occurrence have been known to catch thieves and beat them to a pulp, sometimes fatally.
However, as we have argued before, jungle justice cannot be the way forward, even for a country ravaged by murderers, some of whom are so callous that they do not hesitate to wipe out entire families, including babies and senior citizens.
It is imperative, therefore, that law enforcement and the justice system in general responds more robustly so people don’t have to feel they need to take the law into their own hands.
That was the type of response we saw in St Thomas between last Thursday and this Monday as the police spared no effort to find the two abducted girls. That the law enforcers and residents worked so well together in the search is a significant development that augurs well for the relationship between the police and the public.
The only blemish in what we saw on Monday was the police transporting residents armed with machetes and who openly stated their intention to “kill di bwoy” in reference to the suspect.
That kind of talk should have been discouraged the minute it began. We hope that the police have since spoken to the residents and encouraged them to hand the suspect over to law officers if, indeed, they apprehend him.