A Pound of Flesh

Cat was reading the 5th Nov's Sunday newspaper (backtrack reading as Cat was so busy this week) and there was this article written by a columnist on a particular 'snatch thief' case.

In the pasts, snatch thieves' modus operandi was to work alone. They would eye the victim's handbag, snatch it and run as fast as they could. Alas, running does take a lot of work and the percentage of being caught is very high.

So, they thought up of a new scheme. Find a partner and a motorcycle. One person will drive and the thief at the back will snatch the victim's handbag. And they discovered that this method really works. The gain tripled. Then other snatch thieves began to follow the example.

In this particular news, the headlines were announcing that " Woman Kills Snatch Thief". A snatch thief had stopped the woman and demanded some money as he claimed that the woman hit his motorcyle. He grabbed the woman's handbag when she took it out from the car. The women drove her car and chased the snatch thief into a dead end road, and really hit the motorcyle this time. The snatch thief was killed in the process. The woman is now being investigated by the police for culpable homicide and not to murder as there was no intention to kill.

The columnist was asking us to imagine what it's like to be in the thief's shoes and to empathise with him. As per the columnist, nobody was interested to know what the snatch thief's story was.

Cat does agree that as bad as the snatching situation is at the moment, justice should not be taken into each individual's hand, especially when it involves killing someone (even if it was said as self defense). A life is still a life whether it's the victim's or the snatcher's. Who are we to decide on our own who should live and who should not? That is why the law is there: to give a fair trial to everyone. (This does not happen in all cases, but Cat still wants to believe in the system).

Cat does try to empathize with the snatch thief..but the only sadness that Cat felt is the way he died. That's all. It's sad to be hit and die like an dog crossing the road. He deserves to be punished but certainly not until having his life taken.

Cat's heart goes to the snatch thieves parents..what will happen to them and how will they take it on knowing the news?

This heart goes also to all the snatch thieves' victims and their family..
To the victim who ended in coma or died after being dragged a few meters from the place of incident (because the victim does not have the time to let go of the bag)? To the victim's partner and children who would be waiting unsuspiciously at home for their spouse or mother to come home..

An eye for an eye?
Food for thoughts.