Become a voice to deal with kidnapping

THE mother of a kidnap victim has urged those who have been forced to endure the horror of having a loved one abducted to “become a voice” but urged them not to be angry. Speaking at a crime and security forum at Center Point Mall, Chaguanas on Republic Day, Christine Hosein, the mother of kidnapped teenager, Imran Hosein urged those in attendance to desist from allowing anger to be one of the reasons for which they became united in the fight against crime. “We cannot come together in anger to achieve.  We must come together in love, because anger brings strife.  We would lose focus on why we are here and what we are about,” she said. “Instead, let us address what angers us —  and what really angers us is the sense of helplessness.”

A member of the Committee for Transformation and Progress (C4TAP), Hosein said the three weeks following the abduction of her son on April 7, she heard fear, frustration and hopelessness in the emotions of those who came to give their support. Mother and son now lead the group’s Kidnap Victim’s Family Support Movement. Also raising their voices against crime at the forum, were members of Communities Mobilising against Crime (CMAC).  The group cited several measures they felt would yield quick results in taking the country back from the hands of criminals.

Among these were the importation of expert special investigators to identify and gather evidence on rogue police officers, establishing municipal police forces, achieving state of the art DNA testing on a routine basis, and raising fines and enforcement levels.  The group also felt that replacing police prosecutors with more legally qualified, trained and well-paid public prosecutors would help. Also present at the forum were political analyst Dr Kirk Meighoo and Opposition MP Gillian Lucky.