Does the boy deserve a second chance?
I didn’t follow the case 5 years ago where a 12 year old boy murdered his tuition teacher’s 11 year old daughter. I only recently read about the boy’s release. He’s 17 years old now. You can read more from the Star; No choice but to free teen, Boy was well liked, obedient prisoner and Murdered girl’s mother stunned.
When I was initially told of his release, someone asked me what I thought about it. Whether it was fair. The boy had been convicted of the murder but due to a technicality the court had no choice but to free him. What if it was my daughter that was the victim? I can give you a straight answer. I would kill the boy myself even though I would be spending my life in jail. To repeatedly stab the girl more than 20 times is an act of pure evil. No kesian for the boy! The judge said they wanted to put the boy away for as long as possible. My views slightly changed when I read the facts of the case.
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Facts of the case On May 30, 2002, an international schoolteacher came home to find her 11-year-old daughter sprawled in a pool of blood on the bathroom floor of their house in Setapak. She immediately rushed her daughter to a specialist centre, where she was pronounced dead on arrival. The woman’s 13-year-old tuition student was said to be the last person to have been with the girl. The boy had arrived about an hour early for tuition, before the woman had returned home from a weekly school meeting. The teacher told her daughter to let the boy into the house first. While waiting in the house, the boy was taunted by the victim, who repeatedly called him “fatty.” A spat soon ensued between the two children. Continuing their quarrel in the kitchen, the boy suddenly snapped and attacked her with a sharp weapon. Post-mortem reports revealed that she had died due to massive blood loss from four slash wounds and 20 stab wounds. After committing the murder, the boy had left the scene with his uncle, whom he had asked to pick him up on the excuse that his tuition class had been cancelled. On finding her daughter’s body, the woman had called up the boy who repeatedly said: “Teacher, sorry, sorry. Teacher, sorry … I don’t know why I did it.’’ The boy was picked up by the police from his father’s shop about an hour later. |
Personally, I can’t help but have some feeling of pity for the boy. Don’t get me wrong, I think he should pay for what he did. But I feel that rapists in many cases (JB, etc) should get an even severe punishment than the boy. Remember in the 90s, the five men who gang raped a woman and then set her on fire? They were sentenced to 5 years jail. They are walking on our streets again. Did the boy do worst than what those animal did?
My initial reaction was to think that the boy was a violent monster who enjoys inflicting pain and torture. That’s not the case here isn’t it? The boy was just 13 years old. He was taunted and he snapped! Can a 13 year old boy control his anger? Heck, I’m 35 and I can’t even control my anger when I’m taunted! How many times have I wished there was a knife close by so that I could repeatedly stab a difficult customer (Just joking. I love my customers. All of them).
I remember an incident when I was 13 where I nearly threw a classmate off the 3rd floor. The classmate was taunting me and then rudely told me to shut up. I snapped! I charged at him, grabbed him and pulled him out of the class towards the balcony. I wildly threw punches, most of it missing him. I grabbed him and wanted to throw him over the balcony. All this while there was a teacher in class! Even my buddies were shocked and came to the classmate’s rescue. When the dust settled, I was damn remorseful of what I’d done and I was punished for my actions.
Even my young son once snapped. My son who was being unfairly treated, sunk his teeth into my brother in-law’s son. This caused a family feud that has been ongoing for almost 3 years now. And every time someone mentions my in-laws’ ongoing relationship with us, it’s easy to see the guilt on my son’s face.
Perhaps the best thing for the parents of the victim is to meet with the boy. Hear him out. Perhaps he does deserve a second chance, perhaps not.
I did thought of this case but believes the counselor who interviewed the boy be the best judge on his state of mind. :-)
Like you said, life would be much less complicating if everything is either black or white. :-)
Reply : I agree. Unfortunately, society might not be kind to the boy.
Comment by helen — 26 July 2007 @ 5:29 pm
Personally, I prefer to let him go. What’s the point of further punishment? He was too young. That is a personal opinion. Even if it was my child, he has suffered enough I believe.
Reply : I believe he can only find closure if the parents of the victim forgives him. If not, he will continue to suffer with his guilt.
Comment by Bengbeng — 26 July 2007 @ 7:28 pm
oh dear..I am kinda worried for your son. If he has the guilty look, he must think the whole thing was his fault? If put that way, it’s a terrible burden for a lil kid to bear, huh?
well… I wish I had the strength to throw some kid off his stupid punk bike when he ‘touched’ me. No..I wudn’t have felt any guilt. MUA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAH!!!
Reply : WHO!? WHO TOUCHED U! Let me know, I kawtim for u. ;)
Comment by mott — 26 July 2007 @ 8:46 pm
perhaps it’s a good thing the boy is given a second chance. anyway… looking from the other side…
i think we humans are just so inconsiderate… make fun of ppl and hurt ppl’s feelings and hope to get away with it. yeah… ppl will snap… and when a kid snap… anything could happen.
to me… both parties are guilty… but when it results in death… then it’s a bit too much la.
Reply : Kids can be cruel without realizing it. Taunting, taking sides, etc. To the victim it was just harmless fun but the boy was becoming more and more enraged.
Comment by zewt — 26 July 2007 @ 10:08 pm