Man’s inhumanity to man
Last week we
heard of yet another tragic death at the hands of the police. We
are referring to the murder of young man in the shallow waters
at the Bambalapitiya beach allegedly by police personnel. It was
no simple accident but a ghastly scene witnessed by many in
broad daylight.
What makes it more unfortunate is that the victim was a
deranged person. In other words, he was a mental patient, a
person who deserves sympathy. The manner in which he was done to
death by beating with clubs is revolting to say the least.
This adds to the list of incidents that mar the good name of
the Police. It is necessary to produce the suspects in court and
institute legal proceedings against them. It is necessary to
erase the general perception among the masses that the
authorities are slack and indifferent in prosecuting errant
officers.
This unfortunate incident was preceded by the death in
custody of two youth in police custody in Angulana, Moratuwa and
the alleged attack by police personnel on a student of the Sri
Lanka Institute of Information Technology at Malabe.
It is necessary to bring to book the killers of the innocent
man at Bambalapitiya. However, that alone would not be enough.
It is necessary to ensure that such violations of the law and
such killings are not repeated.
The Police have no right to torture suspects. Their role is
to apprehend the suspects and produce them in court. It is the
latter that punishes the accused after a fair trial. Police have
no right to punish people.
This may not be the first instance of the Police treating
mentally deranged persons in such a cruel manner. The Police are
only expected to hand over such persons to a mental hospital
where they could be treated and cured.
No doubt the Police would have been influenced by the
widespread cruelty in society at large towards mental patients.
Even families abandon those who become mentally sick. Most of
them could be cured if properly treated.
There is widespread ignorance on mental diseases and how to
get them cured. In most instances they are not even recognized
until they get worse and the patient turns violent. Hence, there
is the need for a public awareness campaign on how to recognize
and treat mental patients. Actually the authorities have to
devote more attention to the mentally sick.
With the increase in the pace of work and the burdens of
finding a decent means of living wider and wider sections of
society would become liable to be afflicted with mental
disorders. Unfortunately Sri Lanka has a big dearth of
physicians who could treat such patients.
The Health Ministry has to evolve a scheme to produce
sufficient qualified psychiatrists to treat the sick. Since it
is not a lucrative sphere for private practice few would
voluntarily opt to specialize in such a field. Hence, the need
for material and other incentives to induce more young doctors
to specialize in psychiatry and related subjects.
Planetary effects on a Poya Day
The Lagna
forecast of a Sinhala daily yesterday showed how the planets
affect man on a Poya Day. Some of the forecasts seemed
interesting.
Here are some of them:
A day with mixed results.
Time will be spent outside home.
A day engaged in gardening.
A long journey will take place.
Time will be spent in solitude.
Evening will be spent leisurely.
A backlog of work would be cleared.
Time will be spent on meritorious deeds.
You would be attending to house repairs.
The day will be busy.
How much of knowledge in astrology should one need for such
forecasting is anyone’s guess. Perhaps, another moot point for
debate among astrologers. |