By Abdo Khal
THERE are circumstances that force people change their values and temperament and drive them to commit violence. I am not trying to justify crimes that take place every now and then, but I am trying to explain the unstable character that drives an individual to commit terrible crimes. We seek answers from social scientists and psychologists to find the reasons that possibly could have pushed the person to such a crime. We then wait for government and private bodies to address the issue.
The murder of an innocent child in Al-Ahsa recently by the girl’s stepmother shocked the country. Until now we don’t know the reason that drove the stepmother to kill Reem. The stepmother took the family card and went to the school to pick up the girl. Then she took her to a deserted place near their house and cut her neck in cold blood. She went back home normally, as if nothing had happened.
The manner in which this crime took place indicates that the stepmother did not care about the crime and she showed the same impassivity when she appeared before the Bureau of Investigation and Public Prosecution.
Reem’s murder shows how violent our society is. It also shows at the same time how negligent we are in applying regulations. The law dictates that a student is not to leave school unless accompanied by a parent.
How did the school allow Reem to leave with her stepmother? Some might say she was carrying the family card. That is true but the system also allows each citizen to have their own identification card and the school should have confirmed the woman’s identity.
I stress here the importance of issuing identification cards to every woman, so the paperwork of her husband or any other relative cannot be used to commit a crime. If the school staff were careful, they would have asked for the identification of the woman.
This crime raised the alarm and all schools should be careful not to allow any student out of school without the parent’s approval. The school in this regard also should issue a special card, approved by parents, for drivers who transport the students.
Reem died as a result of the school’s negligence. She is just another child on the long list of children who got murdered because of various reasons including negligence. While such crimes continue unabated, we haven’t seen any initiatives taken to protect our children.
