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Are some people in Sophia humans or animals?

May 10, 2013 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

It was only on Wednesday morning that I told my daughter that the poorer folks in Pakistan and India have absolutely nothing to do with their time. Once there is a shout of some race or religious complaint, all hell breaks loose and people get killed in the most vicious ways that take humans to a very low level.
You wonder if in these places, people just wait for an opportunity to demonstrate the thin line between Homo sapiens and lower animals.
That was on Wednesday, then, on Thursday came the front page of Kaieteur News. I thank the paper for resisting criticism for publishing these photos no matter how gruesome they are. They tell Guyanese what is taking place in their country. The animal behaviour in our society must not be hidden from the society.
Mr. ‘Kit’ Nascimento and Mrs. Gem Madhoo-Nascimento remarked in 2011 that the constant reporting on crime was damaging the tourist industry. Then, President Jagdeo and Ministers of Government warned the society that too much crime news on the front page hurts Guyana. They are still in that lamentation mood (see my replies – Sep 2, 2009, “Crime, Bad Governance and Guyana’s Image” and Jan 24, 2011, “Tourism, Crime and Journalism.”)
It its Thursday edition, KN has a front page image of a naked man, pulverized to death by some residents in Sophia. They tied him up, placed wood around him and were ready to burn him. What was his crime? He was accused of being a barefaced thief who preyed on the neighbourhood.
Of course it irritates you when you wake up and see that your battery in the car is gone. Then next week’s it is the neighbour’s television. But does any neighbourhood thief deserve to die like that? This was a human being who, no matter how recidivist he had been, might have had a redemptive capacity. This was a human being, period! He should not have been put to death like that.
This macabre expression of animal anger is happening too often in Guyana. Let us be realistic, a rapist will get beaten, a driver who killed a child on the road will get seriously mauled, but should a neighbourhood thief be so brutally put to death by a vigilante gang? The answer is no.
No matter how hardened you are, that image in KN yesterday has to move you. We cannot accept this kind of animal behaviour in the 21st century. We should not. The police will have a hard time to gather evidence. The gang members will not talk. Villagers will be scared to speak, and those willing may be threatened by the perpetrators. One has the uneasy feeling that this death that marks a terrible low in Guyanese civilization may go un-prosecuted.
One suggestion is for the police and civil society to put up a reward for those willing to come forward. This columnist says most shamelessly, I cannot afford it from my budget but I will make the sacrifice and immediately contribute $10,000 to the reward. I call upon every decent Guyanese to chip in so we can have a handsome sum and we can put these people behind bars.
Am I optimistic? I am not. There have been at least four similar killings the past five years with one being carried out last year in the district south of Cemetery Road. The sister of the murdered man told the press that he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Apparently, the burglar was noticed and he ran. This was at 2 a.m.
At the same time, the man was seen riding his bike in the area. He was hauled off of it and beaten to death. The most vicious incident was this one in Sophia. They tied him to a utility pole and were ready to burn him. Maybe he was still alive.
I would suggest that all political parties, religious groups and human rights organizations go into Sophia and urge decent citizens to expose these killers. No one deserves to die like that for simple neighbourhod “thiefing.” This country has crossed the line that separates the world of barbarism and civilization.
People are eating fish and drinking beer at a restaurant in my district of Wortmanville/Werk-en-Rust. A robbery with a gun takes place in full view of the patrons. A shot victim slumps to the ground and the revelers get on with their fish and beer.
In the village of Success, a man’s throat is slashed, he lies dying and the beer and rum drinkers watch and continue to imbibe. God made strange creatures named Guyanese.

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