When the beast in man springs forth

20 Mar 2018 / 07:08 H.

    VERY disturbing, not so much the vicious attack but the public apathy which was staring at us in all its ugliness and challenging our virtue. Seeing the beastly man drag the woman by the hair towards his car like she was some garbage just demonstrated he had lost his character as a human being, and those watching the horror were in fact no better than the perpetrator.
    It was undeniably more upsetting to see that the public who witnessed the indescribable act of repeatedly chopping the woman with the parang like a butcher, made me think that people are truly living the motto, "Every man for himself and God for everybody".
    The victim wailed for help and even the good Samaritan who recorded it on the handphone felt it would be worthy to continue recording instead of helping. The man continued to invoke his right of masculine powers over the woman who was no match for him and in numbers too the cowardly act of two against one, goes against any fairness.
    No doubt, the guys were armed but there were several people who just stood by and watched as if there was some show going on. No one had the presence of mind to distract or at least startle the assailant.
    What kind of world are we living in today? That video was not the first that went viral on an incident like this and neither will it be the last and we continue to condone societies without conscience.
    I also found it repelling that the media needed to report that the cause of the attack is attributed to woman having committed some "wrongdoing". Just imagine the scar, both physical and emotional the woman will have to deal with when she leaves hospital.
    We forget that there must always be two sides to the story, the man's version has been published, the woman's may never be told, and she will continue to live in the tragedy of having being born a woman.
    Interestingly, I was reading a book by Dr Myles Munroe, Understanding the Purpose and Power of Men and the opening statement jolted me with a mix of intrigue and surprise:
    "The twenty-first century male is in crisis. Throughout the nations of our global village, the prisons are filled with multitudes of men. Compared to their counterpart, women, they are responsible for a vast majority of the criminal behaviour worldwide. They are also victims of drug abuse and the principal carriers of the dreaded AIDS virus. Many have found a home in subculture gangs, instigating antisocial activities that wreak havoc on the social order. Men revel in the oppression of women and perpetuate domestic violence".
    There seems to be a psychological gender warfare which goes beyond what we understand and even care to know. It is said that globally, men are struggling to find their place in the rapidly evolving world. The revolutionary changes we see in the status of women at workplace, home, social gatherings and just about anywhere are leaving men in confusion, disillusionment, anger, frustration and trauma, and these feelings manifest in a myriad of ways. The man in the video could have had all of the above feelings which brought out the beast in him.
    The impact of the confusion on women, the family and society paint a morbid picture of uncertainly tainted with violence with women suffering the consequence and the woman who was beaten and slashed was probably a typical victim of rage.
    As I write this, another video circulates viciously to look for judgment and this time I am a little confused myself. When tears are pitted against the truth, the former wins. A weeping woman in the video claimed she was not allowed into a police station when she was in distress and duress. The police were put on trial by social media and again, we all forget that we have the woman's account which is one side of the story. There was a subsequent statement from the police but it was good as gone.
    While we evolve and transform digitally to stay abreast and competitive at work and our life, should we not have a second thought before we click "send"?
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