When " Death " calls !

There are probably few " pleasant " ways to die, but being run over by a train is certainly not one of them.   Two such deaths have occurred recently in New York and in both cases an innocent victim was pushed in the back and caused to fall into the path of an oncoming train.    In one instance, a Korean national was pushed to his death by a mentally disturbed homeless man - and in the other, a woman still mulling over the twin towers attack pushed a stranger to his death because he looked Indian - and she assumed that he would probably be a Muslim.

Unfortunately, the publicity that these incidents have attracted will put this idea into disturbed minds in other parts of the world.   We have seen a similar connection between school massacres in the United States.   Once the first hit the headlines - others followed, sometimes many years apart - but the attraction seems to be the world wide publicity such an atrocity will ensure.    Some disturbed minds are attracted to fame, and if they can not become famous by legitimate means - then " infamous " is an accepted alternative.

Then there is the fatal " Gang rape " incident in India that is making world headlines.   It seems incredible that a public bus would continue it's journey through city streets for forty minutes, while a gang of six drunken men would beat up a young man and his fiancee, gang rape the woman - and finally throw both from the bus while it was still moving.   Apparently, the bus driver was unmoved by this unfolding crime - and did nothing to seek help.

In this instance, the publicity has opened the flood gates and created a backlash that the Indian government is powerless to stop.    It seems that rape is common in India and the police are indifferent to investigating complaints, and when they do - it takes years for the prosecution to wind it's way through the courts and in many cases the judiciary find excuses for this behaviour.     Women are usually held to be partly responsible for their own rape.

Even in enlightened western societies, women have not achieved total emancipation.  They are usually paid less than men for the same work and violence against women is still endemic in the lower social order.  No doubt the Indian government will beef up it's legal code to offer a degree of protection, but the bigger task will be to change attitudes - and that will be measured in generations rather than years.

We live in a violent world and this is the age of communication.   What is happening on the world scene is instantly before our eyes and disturbed minds are informed of new ways to indulge their fantasies.  It is disturbing to read of innocent people being pushed to their death under trains - and this brings the thought that perhaps there is a disturbed mind contemplating such an action on a railway platform in this city.

Hopefully, it will not happen, but we are not immune to the spread of ideas.  Unfortunately, the benefits of modern technology are equally available to those whose intent is evil !