In the legal world, two words stand out anytime in the courtroom. It is not because these two words are the most favourable words or the only important words in the legal dictionary it is because these two words are the underlining factor and the reason why the legal system was established. There are times when we find ourselves fighting for our rights either because someone or a group of people are trying to trample on them or because we feel marginalized in a way.
In all of these, it is always heartbreaking when a victim is forcefully, directly or indirectly made to become the culprit. I believe most of us have witnessed such a time at some point in our lives and this thing happens even when list expect it. I have taken time to weigh it all in other to understand why we still have crime prevailing in our societies and I have come to a simple conclusion which I believe is the reason why we are witnessing all these social vices.
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing”… Edmund Burke.
I believe we all know the above quote but the challenge there is; do we truly understand what the quote means? This is the very question that goes through my mind each time I see this scenario of a culprit becoming the victim in our society. It is more painful because most times we tend to coat it with this legal statement that says;
“An accused is not guilty until proven guilty in a competent court of jurisdiction”.
This is another statement that has been misused in so many cases and it has made a lot of culprits become the victim. I will outline some cases where we have directly or indirectly made the culprit the victim. Before I get into that, I will like to differentiate between a Culprit and a Victim. I believe that by knowing what the two words stand for, we will understand this post better.
A culprit
Who is a culprit? In a simple term, a culprit is someone who perpetrates evil.
A Victim
Who is a victim? A victim is an unfortunate person who has suffered from someone’s adverse circumstance, wrongdoing or evil behaviour.
The word evil is relative to a given community because what we might see as evil within the shores of Africa may not be seen as evil overseas. I will be looking at the word evil as regards what the entire world see and adjudge as evil. Now, looking at the two definitions you will agree with me that one thing is common between the two words and that thing is the word Evil. The culprit perpetrates evil while the victim receives the evil that has been perpetrated by the culprit. Let us look at scenarios where a culprit turns into a victim and a victim becomes the culprit.
Different scenarios
In our world, today rape cases have become on the increase and in most of the world, there seems to be no policy put in place by the authorities as a means of combating the evil called rape. You will bear with me that most times when a rape case is reported, certain questions make the victim look more like a culprit that is thrown at the victim. Questions like;
· Why were you walking through the streets by that time of the night?
· Why were you dressed in such a provocative manner?
· Why did you visit his house alone?
These and many other questions are thrown at the victim making her look like the culprit.
There is also a scenario where someone loses his belongings and instead of people looking at the issue at hand, they will begin to ask questions that will turn the victim into a culprit and the questions are;
· Why did you drop your bag there, you could have carried it as you were going to the counter to place your order?
· Haven’t you heard that that road is dangerous for you to walk through it alone especially at night?
· Why were you careless with your purse?
There are a million questions that will be thrown at the victim which will certainly make him feel as though he is the culprit. It is very funny when these things happen because you will begin to wonder if those asking you these questions are cognizant of the fact that you are the victim.
This scenario I want to talk about is something I have noticed for so long and it seems to be on the increase because no one seems to care. Have you ever been in a situation where a younger person insults you while people are watching without saying anything but only to react the moment you lay your hand on the person? This is the greatest challenge we are facing now as humans because it has become worse than it was. I remembered back in the days when I was growing up, I was meant to understand that I cannot insult an elderly person and if for any reason I such a silly mistake, those around will join the elder in reprimanding me immediately even without the consent of my parents. The funniest part is that when I complain to my parents, they will flog me the more for insulting an elder not minding that I have been reprimanded by the elder.
These days when a child is seen insulting an elder, you will be surprised to know that people around will act as though they are not aware of the fact that the child has been insulting the elder. The moment the elder reacts in a bid to caution the child, you will begin to hear questions like;
· Why are you treating another person’s child like that?
· What did you do to this child to receive such insult?
· Why can’t you wait to report to his parents?
The truth is that these people asking all these questions were there watching the child insult an elder and they did practically nothing but here they are querying the actions of the victim. We have become so focused on our quest for money and financial freedom that we have forgotten that a society where there is no peace will never flourish. The salient question to ask is; how can I uphold justice irrespective of the circumstances surrounding the crime?
Conclusion
Asking a rape victim why she was walking alone at night is like asking every woman not to step out of the house once night comes. You know what that means right? It means that any rapist who sees a girl at night should rape her because she is not mean to leave her house at the night. What then would be the state of our society?
If your friend loses his belongings to thieves, there won’t be any need to ask him why he left his bag on the table to go and place an order at the counter or why she left her bag on the chair inside the church as she went to the drop her offering in the offering box. We should get to the level of condemning evil irrespective of the mistakes of the victim. In that way, the culprit will understand that there is no justification for the crime he committed. I believe I have been able to pass the message across to you my wonderful friends.
Thank you for reading my post.
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Hello, it is interesting what you describe. in an ideal country. But not in mine. Here human rights are violated daily. Corruption from the government is the one that imposes the sentence, no matter if you are a victim or guilty. Here the Supreme Court of Justice, since 21 years ago, has outgrown its name. There is also Divine justice, with faith and hope I wait for it. Thank you for your article.