FOR THE second year running a High Court judge has taken note of the toll of murders which continue unabated in this country. At the opening of the Easter session of the Home Circuit Court on Wednesday Mr. Justice Mahadev Dukharan noted that murder was "on the rise" even as he queried why so many murder accused were being granted bail.
A year ago, also at the opening of the Easter session, Mr. Justice Donald McIntosh had called on Government to find the root cause of so many murders; of the 235 cases on the court list then, 135 were for murder.
The latest police tally published last week shows that for the first 100 days of this year the murder toll had reached 233 which is nine more than the total for the same period last year.
In a breakdown, which does not explain the roots, the Constabulary Communication Network (CCN), says that 76 of the murders this year were reprisal killings, and 75 domestic-related.
The demography has changed somewhat: murders in the metropolitan zone have decreased from 165 to 159. But there is an increase from 59 to 74 in four rural parishes - St. James, Clarendon, St. Mary and Portland. The rural rise may be attributable to the mobility of wrongdoers with easy access to illegal guns.
On the domestic side there are too many imponderables for easy analysis. They range from the impact of hard times to the erosion of personal attitudes and inability to resolve conflict. We suspect that one factor is the sense that the death penalty is no longer a threat since the last hanging in February 1988.
It is frightening to contemplate murder as a commonplace which clogs the court lists and deadens the sense of a society vibrant with good feeling. The prospect is ominous.
The opinions on this page, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner.
