An appeal to kidnappers

WE WOULD like to believe that even among kidnappers there exists some semblance or modicum of humanity to which we can appeal. Based on that belief, we are today pleading with the kidnappers of ten-year-old Vijay Persad and 28-year-old Rodney Deosaran to please set them free. It is our view, and we feel sure it is shared by the rest of the country, that the kidnap victims and their families have suffered enough and it is more than time to end their anguish.

We appeal to the kidnappers largely on this humanitarian ground. We know that extracting a ransom from the families of their victims is the reason for their abductions, but we cannot believe that in such a quest they are impervious or insensitive to the pain and agony their actions are causing to so many over such a long period of time. Vijay was taken away from his family on June 21. He was abducted by a group of men who had apparently come to rob his father’s mini-mart at Indian Walk, Moruga. When Rajkumar Persad refused to open the door to his business, the men snatched Vijay who was standing in the doorway and ran off with the youngster.

That was 51 days ago. The kidnappers first wanted $500,000 for releasing Vijay and later reduced their ransom demand to $400,000. The Persad family, however, have declared their inability to raise this sum of money, offering $20,000 instead. After such a long time, the kidnappers should realise that their $400,000 demand could not be met, that their attempt to “get rich” from this abduction has apparently failed and it would be futile to keep the ten-year-old boy captive any longer. That should be good enough reason for setting him free, but our appeal is not really based on that consideration; rather we are asking the kidnappers to end the suffering of an innocent little boy they have snatched from the bosom of his family. As we said earlier, it is an appeal to the humanity of the abductors, however foolhardy some may think it to be.

We are appealing for the release of Rodney Deosaran on the same presumption, that after keeping him captive for 36 days, the kidnappers would be moved by their sense of humanity to let him go. In Rodney’s case, the abductors  have received a ransom from his father, Jawahirlal Deosaran, although we do not believe the payment is anything near the $10 million they have demanded. It seems that Rodney’s father, a wealthy Freeport businessman who owns Amalgamated Sanitation Company Limited located at El Socorro, has become disenchanted over the inability of the AKS to locate his son and has decided to end his cooperation with the police and, instead, deal directly with the kidnappers.

We understand Jawahirlal Deosaran’s distress and his frustration with the failure of the Police so far to solve this case, but we believe the decision he has taken is a bad one. The only way this father can succeed where the Police have failed is by negotiating directly with the kidnappers who obviously would demand more money from him. How much he is prepared to pay for the release of his son only he can tell, but we wish him well even in this course of action. We can only hope that Rodney has not been harmed by his abductors who, whatever agreement they may make with his father, will let him go if not for the money at least to end the suffering of victim and family.