Originally posted by redstone:
letter was in Today yesterday. (notwithstanding that the
assailant may be a mental case)
[b]"Bashed up by adult"
Letter from Zarina Jaffar
On Sept 24 at about 5.30pm, my 12-year-old son, who had just
returned from the library, called to inform me that he would be at
the playground behind my block in Woodlands to chat with some
friends.
.
Barely half an hour later, I received a call informing me that my
son had been beaten up. He had been punched in the nose, jumped on
and kicked repeatedly by an adult male of about 30 years of age. My
son's three friends had stood there frozen in shock.
.
My husband and I rushed to the scene to find our son lying on the
floor with a bloody nose, crying.
.
Other adults in the area just looked the
other way. When I tried to find out what had happened, they
gestured as if to say, don't bother me. But I understand why they
did not want to get involved..
While I would like to commend the police for their prompt response
to my call, I was disappointed that they couldn't do much.
.
As this is a non-seizable case, the police are not empowered to
arrest the man until I lodge a formal complaint to the
magistrate.
.
My son said he had seen this man on a few occasions, sometimes
talking to himself and, at other times, acting friendly. This seems
to suggest that he could be mentally troubled.
.
If the talk among my neighbours is to be believed, my son may not
be his first victim. My boy did not provoke him but was attacked
out of the blue.
.
From my understanding, the police can take action only when there
is serious injury or a loss of life and limb. My boy had a swollen
nose and cuts on his head and was given outpatient treatment. This
is termed as a "simple injury".
.
I should think that any form of assault, especially unprovoked and
involving a young victim, should be covered by the Children and
Young Persons Act no matter how "simple" it is and the police
should have the right to act without a court order.
.
Making our own enquiries, we found out which block and probable
floor on which assailant lived. But this information was of no use
as the police couldn't do much.
.
My husband is even toying with the idea of giving the assailant as
good as our son got.
.
It seems there is a loophole in the law that can be easily
exploited. All along, we had believed that any form of assault,
however minor, gave the police the power of arrest.
.
I am glad the man did not have a weapon with him at that time or
the consequences would have been graver.
.
We find it a hassle to lodge a complaint with the magistrate and
are willing to let the matter rest if it is proven that the
assailant is, indeed, mentally ill.
.
However, I do hope the authorities will ensure that he seeks
medical help. Otherwise, he will continue to be a menace to
residents in my neighbourhood."[/b]
Enough has been said about our law enforcement and there's no
need to repeat it, lest Audrey Ang give another sermon about
lighter side of police bureaucracy.
I'm more keen to focus on the fact that people simply stood by and
did NOTHING while some stranger beat up on a 12-yr-old. Our people
are not just apathetic, they're PATHETIC.
Sometimes, if s-h-i-t happens, i can't say i'll depend too much on
my fellow Singaporeans for help. This is where ang mohs outscore us
heavily and i'm ashamed to agree.
