Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Nine Year Old Witness to Crime

My husband's nine year old cousin (W-our neighbor) was walking home from the Maghrib (sunset) prayer this past Monday with his nineteen year old brother and cousins. When they reached the main street in front of our house, two civilian cars pulled up and blocked the road from both sides. Men dressed in Iraqi special police force uniforms jumped out of these cars and drew their guns at a third car. They pulled the driver out of the car, blindfolded him, tied his hands back and zoomed off in their cars, with their guns going off.

Nine year old 'W' and his brother/cousins ran back home. They had just seen the beginning of a kidnapping occur, that would leave a family in heartache and tears, and might end in a ransom paid for this innocent man's freedom, or his murder.

Why did these boys know that something was wrong? Because less than two months ago, their brother in law and his co-worker had been 'taken' by such men dressed in police uniform. After five days of negotiations, sleepless nights, heartache for his family and all around worry, he was released for a ransom of $30,000 (from a man who makes no more than $300 - $500 a month). His co-worker was found a month later in the city morgue, tortured and killed.

The sad thing is, that people see things like this happen before their eyes, and yet they stand with their hands tied behind their backs, unable to do anything to stop it. You fear going to the police, because many times, they are in on the crimes. You fear fighting back, because they will come after you and your family. And you don't know what to say to young boys and girls who see things like this, and have to go on with their young lives. Allah al Hafith- God is the Protector.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

poor little cousin.. I really hope all those dudes who make a job out of kidnapping get punished in the dunya and akhira as well.. especially those who kill their captives.. they make me so stark raving mad.