THE EDITOR, Sir:

The grim subject of my letter touches upon the crime and violence that has overshadowed our beautiful island of Jamaica. The wood and the water are coloured red with the blood of our fellow Jamaicans. The problem is brought home to us as we sit within our grilled homes watching the highlights of the news, which scream: MURDER, ROBBERY, RAPE, with allegations of corruption, and complaints.

I think innocence has already been lost, and we are all aware of the savagery in our country; but I have a suggestion. Yesterday, March 21, I received the most horrendous news which no one would ever want to hear in his/her lifetime. Someone close to the family had been brutally and senselessly murdered. The woman, whom I knew as a beautiful, soft-spoken mother and grandmother, had been raped, and her throat slashed. Her body left there just an empty vessel. Even though I did not witness the crime, my mind is forever polluted with the images that imagination has given me. To me, this murder was just that closer to home - too close to home. Someone murdered her for the pleasure of it. If that could happen to her, it could happen to me, you, or someone close to you. This has scarred the lives of so many. Her daughters will never be able to call her for the usual motherly advice, and her grandchildren will never grow up to witness her vibrancy, except through what they are told. This murder, which took place in Laggerhead, St. Elizabeth, has probably left many feeling helpless, and hopeless, yet angered. These are the emotions that ran through me the moment I heard. I kept looking to see if I could get any more information from the news. I thought perhaps important clues would have been published in hope of a tip. Unfortunately as it seems, it appears as if this beautiful woman's murder was simply reduced to a statistic.

Plea for help

This is where I make a plea for help, as well as to give the public and the media a firm reminder of their role. We are not helpless. There are ways in which we can help to solve crimes, and thus help to prevent them. I heard that this murderer had stolen her car. I immediately thought, perhaps if they saturated images or descriptions of her car in the newspapers, or on the television during the nightly news, someone out there would remember something. To my disappointment her murder did not even make the newspapers the next day. And when I checked the TVJ website, all I saw was a little blurb stating a woman had been murdered in her home.

The media can act as partners to our overwhelmed, overworked law enforcement system. I suggest newspapers have a crime stopper section where information about senseless crimes as the one I mentioned above is personalised, where certain details are disclosed to the public in exchange for tips. This would greatly help! As a media outlet, The Gleaner has a tremendous responsibility. I feel helpless now because I see no action being taken on behalf of this victim who was full of life just the other day.

We are not outsiders looking in on a place overrun with gangsters, murderers, rapists, and corruption; we are the victims. We must all play our part. And I suggest the newspapers and television stations work fervently with law enforcement to immediately release information about crimes as they occur. This would enable us all to become partners to law enforcement. This is a plea as well as a firm reminder. If it could happen to this beautiful, God-fearing, hard-working woman, Pauline Reynolds-Buchanan, it could happen to anyone of us. Let us restore the innocence lost. My suggestion is just one way we can do this.

I am, etc.,

SHARIFA THARPE

ashkerana@yahoo.com

Montego Bay

Via Go-Jamaica