Prime
Caught in the web of mob justice
A mob arrests a suspect criminal
What you need to know:
It is hard to restrain oneself from handing out mob justice especially when one feels that there is a lack of justice.
Many times I loath the moment that mobile phones invaded our lives and took over our sanity. But sometimes, I almost bow in appreciation that they are uncovering and recording some matters that would otherwise be hidden under the carpet.
This time it was a video shot by a lady passenger capturing two small bodied young Indian women fighting three big-bodied Indian men on a moving bus. This video became viral, and we all got to know that the girls were actually defending themselves against sexual harassment. All this while, other passengers were sitting there and not moving a finger to help the girls.
Although there were many voices that condemned this passive attitude of the passengers, I think these two ladies did not need the help of such cowards any way. And I think they were lucky not to be cornered in a dark alley, or on a similar bus that saw the brutal rape and death of another Indian young lady in 2012 .
Whatever the case, I am happy I was not on board that bus, because I might have taken off my shoes, and forgetting for a few minutes, all the principles of living as a peaceful being, and would have hit these men where it would hurt them most.
And then I wake up from my moment of anger and remember that I truly don’t believe in mob justice! Not even after being robbed some years ago in our Kampala house and being tied by wires and threatened to be killed by a gun wielding thug who terrorised us for 45 minutes in the middle of the night.
I was always horrified by scenes of mob justice in Uganda, sometimes after and other times during the mob attack of an alleged thief, every time this happened, I felt sick in my stomach and was almost paralysed.
So when we were brutally robbed, I thought my feelings will change, and I will no longer sympathise with thugs. I was wrong.
A few weeks after the robbery and as I was walking along Kampala Road, I saw a shirtless, shoe-less man running with a bloody face. I immediately knew that a mob was following him, and I could not help but feel sad at seeing him in this way.
Fortunately for him, he was saved by a policeman who took him into custody before the mob finished what they had started.
Sometimes when people feel that there is lack of justice, they decide to take matters in their own hands, but we have to remember that violence, harassment, and abuse are signs of moral downfall in our world today. It is the lack of spiritual principles that is causing such a degradation in values that govern societies today.
Boys who think women are an inferior race, grow up in such environments where their mothers and sisters are mistreated. It is here that it all begins, the family. And it is here that most of the work should be done.
Editorial @ug.nationmedia.com
