Time to fight fire with fire

WE learn with horror the brutal killing of an innocent young woman in Madang last week.
From Facebook posts, we learn that the woman named only as Rebecca from Jilim village in Rai Coast was buying doughnuts at the Madang Main Market on May 24 when a man, in the company of others, slashed her on the neck with a machete, killing her.
It would appear from reading the post that the group were slashing at everybody in their path.
The killing appears to have stemmed from an earlier altercation between a security guard and criminals.
Whatever the cause, we really do not care.
This sort of killing should not be happening within town precincts as indeed anywhere in the land.
From Kessy Sawang, a candidate for Rai Coast, we learn that the late Rebecca’s father passed on when she was young and her widow mom raised her.
At the time of her murder, she was employed at the Supreme Supermarket Kai Bar to help support her family.
The anger this killing has evoked in people is plain in reactions on social media.
There are calls for “Justice for Rebecca”, for the death penalty, and for tougher penalties for carriage of weapons in public places.
We agree with all of these sentiments and with Kessy who says: “I utterly condemn this killing of innocent Rebecca in the strongest terms.
“Public market places should be safe places for our women in the informal sector and customers to do business.
“PNG has disintegrated into a blood-thirsty society where people no longer respect the sanctity of life.
“There are thousands of mentally ill people in the society, who can’t think, control their anger and resolve issues like human beings.”
The anger is understandable but we must direct it elsewhere, in the right places and at the right authority.
Violence there always will be and indeed is present in every society.
It rears its head only often and in defiance of all things good when it is allowed by those in authority.
Killings of the sort that occurred on May 24 in Madang happen so often because the perpetrators are emboldened by the weak public policing in place in that town and elsewhere in the country.
They know the chances that they will get caught is very low or nil.
They know the public will not lift a finger to stop the violence, to block their escape or to step forward to identify them to the police if the police start investigations.
The killer and his accomplices know that even if they are caught chances of putting together a competent investigation file to commit them to trial and if the case advances to trial to mount a strong prosecution to get the maximum sentence they deserve are slim.
This is really what is the matter: the lack of visible, competent, professional and reliable law enforcement.
It goes further to the source of law enforcement, to the government, and its commitment to stamping out violence and other issues classed under law and order.
Often in recent times, we have seen police commanders and politicians, take the role of peace mediators, in offering armistice and making conciliatory gestures to killers and criminals.
This is no way to behave or to end violence.
Political leadership and the police must take the toughest stance in a country where the people understand most forcefully the rule of “might is right”.
Any conciliatory gesture is read by the aggressor as weakness and only serves to embolden and encourages him.
Peace mediating politicians and Bible wielding preacher-policeman are not required in the fight to regain our peace and security back from killers, gangsters and warlords.
We need to fight fire with fire.
Only that will restore peace and security for our peaceful and innocent citizens, especially our women and children.