Cheers Dears By Augusto Pinto Honeyman Struck Again
Dears, Last Sunday, just as Fr. Bernard was about to start his sermon, Flory whispered to Concy, "Honeyman struck again." Concy replied in horror,"Oh my God! Don't tell me! Not again! Who this time?" "The woman who lives alone in the house next to the school?" "What!? She must be in her seventies!" said Concy. "Yes. He came last night and started to remove tiles from her roof. Hearing the sounds she went out to check. Seeing this, he took his chance, rushed at her, caught her, beat her up and forced himself upon her." Honeyman is a psychopath. He has a history of pouncing upon weak and defenceless females after he gets dead drunk. Who are his prey? In his drunken stupor such details do not bother him over-much. They could be children or grandmothers. They could be sick or retarded. All castes, creeds and religions are equally acceptable to him. Often he succeeds in his designs. Sometimes he does not. His history stretches back for years, and there are many cases filed against him. He has been subjected to the third degree by the public and the police many times. This has been useless, for his behaviour persists. The first time his tendencies came to light was some twenty odd years ago when he tried to rape a then teenage girl. However this girl not being the sort to be be intimidated grabbed a danda and started to hammer Honeyman. She beat him so badly that many of his bones were broken and he landed up in hospital. However this did not change him except that he began to seek out prey who were less likely to resist him. They were usually poor, illiterate, sick, young or old women who were unlikely to create too much fuss if anything bad happened to them. Usually they did not or would not follow up the matter with the authorities because they felt that going to the police or courts would be a waste of time and more of a punishment for them than for Honeyman. Of late however his criminal acts were increasing. Over the last few months he had had his way with two young girls who were mentally retarded, and who did not offer much resistance. Then earlier this month he tried to force himself upon a ghanti woman - a batliwalin. Fortunately for her, she had a bottle in her hand which she hit on his head and was able to escape. These incidents have made middle class people to worry. He keeps getting away scot free every time. Will Honeyman be emboldened now to attack them? Even as Flory and Concy were exchanging notes, Fr. Bernard began his sermon. "My dear brothers and sisters, I know very well that the incident last night where Honeyman attacked and raped an old woman is troubling you. And so too are the other things that he has done in the past. I know that many of you want to see him shot on the spot. But before you make your judgements, I want to tell you about my experiences. I have spent many nights with a family whose son plays havoc at home. His family has had to leave their home because of him and have disowned him. I have been trying to get him to begin therapy for his alcohol abuse. He has thrice been in psychiatric institutions, but having been forcefully thrown inside such places he has begun to hate everybody who had anything to do with this. I want you to imagine yourselves in his shoes. I want to say that we have to be careful about what we want to do with him and others like him. No doubt something has to be done. But to condemn them blindly - will that serve any purpose? I think we should agree that they should be admitted to an institution, but an institution where they will be visited by their family and friends. This will show that they are not lost souls or outcasts. This might even help cure them. Remember we are in Advent, and remember what Jesus said,"Whatever you do to the least of my brothers, that you do unto me." After the mass Concy said to Flory,"Has Fr. Bernard lost his marbles?" Till next time then... Cheers (ENDS) ============================================================================== The above article appeared in the December 24, 2008 edition of the Herald, Goa