I cannot begin to describe my feelings when I heard the news of a dead little girl in a bag dumped at a shoplot in Petaling Jaya. The circumstances of her death were too horrific beyond belief. She was sexually and brutally assaulted.
The news came in the wake of a report about eight year-old Nurin Jazlin who has been missing since Aug 20.
Could the little girl in the bag be Nurin? It was a heartwrenching thought.
This morning, I saw the dead little girl's picture on the front page of the NST. A picture of her in death.
I know that as a rule, newspapers refrain from using, much less playing up, pictures of murdered victims. Especially that of a child.
But the case of little Miss Jane Doe must have been, well, special. She was someone's child. She had a name and an identity.
This time I did not turn away. This time I stared hard at the page one photo of a dead child. I was so so sad.
Click here for the story because I just cannot make myself repeat the details.
"Do you know her?" -- the headline asked.
No, I don't. And I am glad I don't. I am glad she is not known to me. I am glad I don't have to go through the pain of having to deal with such tragedy.
I am already shocked and outraged, as it is. Just like the rest of you out there.
I am relieved it is not Nurin Jazlin. I am relieved it is not any child I know.
But it does not make me feel any better that a child had died that way.
I think of my nieces -- Sarah, Sofia, Soraya and Sonia -- who are all below 12. My daughter, Shaira is 15.
Sex crime perpetrators make no distinction. Infants, children or older females. Adults too. They are all fair game.
I worry. Unimaginably.
Take care of your kids.
19 comments:
I am not a violent person by nature but I can promise you this: that sicko who did that to the poor baby would not live to see another day if I were to meet him. I know 2 wrongs don't make a right but I just don't care.
kata tak nak: yes i know... i know..... it is this kind of sicko that brings out the murderer in us.
May this poor innocent child rest in peace....
I was editor of two mainstreams papers for nearly 10 years, and I asked myself after seeing NST's cover story -- a picture of an 8-year old, "angelic" in her death (according to the caption), a brutal death in the hands of a member or members of our society.
The picture will haunt many of us for some time to come.
But did we have to serve readers such a sad-gory picture of a dead girl with "angelic" looks to work people up, instill fear in careless and reckless parents, and convince Malaysians that theirs is an unsafe world?
I would not have used the picture. The newspaper stares at you from the racks of the newsagent, office desks and dinner tables. For the same reason newspaper editors don't use pictures of mangled bodies in a road crash or burnt corpses in a plane crash. Not everyone can bear the shock therapy.
We need to educate parents to keep a keener eye on their children. We need to encourage neighbours to mind a bit more of the next-door-people's business, and we need to get the police to do more. We said we wanted to bring back Rukun Tetangga or introduce vigilante corps; did splashing a dead 8-year old's face going to move the authorities.
I am looking at this from a professional point of view, as an ex-editor. It has got nothing to do with what I may feel about NST under Kalimullah. The GE, Syed Nadzri, is a good brother of mine -- but I don't agree with the decision to sell papers using the a dead kid's picture.
If I am wrong about the NST's intentions, I apologise. But having accorded the girl this unsolicited posthumous publicity, NST owes her and all of us "shocked" by the picture a debt of doing more from now on. It must prove that it is consistent in being angry with this inhuman act and in wanting to educate parents, kids, politicians and the police about this cruel world we live in.
Astaghafirullah... what is happening to our beloved country!
The poor poor child! May she rest in peace.
Ena and fellow visitors,
Let us all sembahayang hajat for this monster (or monsters) to be caught soon.
Dear God, please protect all our young and innocent children.
i read this today. i cant believe wht was did to her. wht kinda a person can do such an evil thing to a little child? how come nobody came forward to claim her yet? where are the parents? my prayer for her soul.
Ena,
It was so heartbreaking to see the pic of that innocent little girl.
What's becoming of our society? Children being preyed upon. Yes, everytime I read abt children being abducted, Sarah, Sofia, Sonia, Ayra & Ayna come to mind. Also Adam Lil boys are not spared too.
Yes, Mekyam, am gonna do solat hajat so that the monster will be brought to justice!
ahirudin (Rocky): I know a senior someone at NST was so turned off by the pix that he refused to read the morning paper(s).
He didnt agree with the use of the pix.
"spoiled my breakfast". he said altho he is fasting. just a figure of speech.
i must be hardened then becos I could look at thepix.
i do agree that the NST must now show that it had had good reason to have used the pix. Prove that it was justified in using the pix.
mekyam, PJ and Kak Ton: may God bless her little innocent soul.
we must solat hajiat for te perpetrator to be caught.
i am outraged. such a heinous crime. the poor child. how she must have suffered. Let's pray her killer is caught and punished.
Like others I am very sad, angry and worried for our children.
Whatever is happening to our society.... people are becoming an animal ... and not scared commiting crime. Definitely we have to look into our self to reverse the trend but most importantly those entrusted in looking after the safety and well being of the citizens must address the rot and the safety system. No point of becoming a developed nation if similar cruelty will be the order of the day.
May she rest in peace...the poor baby...
All my three kids saw the pictures. Even though they read the paper themselves, they still asked me who she was and what happened to her.
I was just stoned speechless - how do I explain her gruesome death to my 7, 8 and 11 year old kids, K.Ena?
Personally, I feel that the picture should not have been published in the newspapers at all. It is just too vivid and too disturbing.
No doubt the papers sales figure rocketed yesterday, but what good does that do?
If she had a family, imagine the shock and trauma that they had to endure seeing her lifeless face splashed all over the newspapers... Would anyone want to go through that?!
Suffice to describe her appearance and make a plea to the public for information on who might be missing a child. If she had a family, somebody is bound to come and identify the remains.
May he/she/they rot in hell...the animal(s) who did this to her.
The NST is desparate. Want to sell more papers, so they use a kid's dead picture to create drama and hype.
Dead girl is not the criminal. Her soul cannot be tortured like this by these people at NST. What if she is your kid?
eva: so tragic.
jaflam: let's hope everything is bein done to catch the killer.
shana: so sedih. terharu betul. so young she is...
i know... a lot of people thought that the picture was too much.
But, well... NST must have thought hard and deep about it before deciding to use the pix on page one.
No Free Lunch: Dunno if that was the compelling reason.
Nuraina,
i saw the first news on this and like you, Jazlin was my first thought...i prayed that the girl wouldnt be her ...glad it was not her but very very sad for the dead girl...i too think that i can kill the person who did the unspeakable to this beautiful girl...
what a world we live in today...just so sad
i'd kill the bastard if I could
just read Rocky...
dont know what to say....i m very upset...
Ena
Read the latest at Rocky's. So sedih.
Innalillahi Rajii unn to Nurin.
May she rest in peace. Alfatiha.
zai: this is so terrible. so horrific. so tragic.
what is going on?
jorji: i think now that the police have conirmed that the little girl in the bag is nurin, then, they can work from there....
i hope they find the beast.
kak ton: let's hope her death is not part of a far and more sinister picture.
Ena,
Correction, the ayat is:
Innalillahi wa inna ilaihi Rajii uun to Nurin.
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