Anyone who witnesses a crime or an offense is responsible for his silence. If you don’t speak up to defend the rights of others then you are a contributor to the crime. But it is not easy to break the barriers of fear and contact authorities especially if one wants to report relatives or friends.
A local newspaper published a story recently about a father who plotted with his children the murder of his daughter to obtain her money. This crime happened in our society and, as with any brutal crime, it stemmed from the absence of conscience and religion. But the most important lesson to be acquired from the incident was that the victim’s son reported his uncles and his grandfather to the police after his mother died.
How could a 17-year-old young man testify against his grandfather and his uncles accusing them of murdering his mother without being threatened? The mother had asked him to look after his young siblings and to report the murder in case they kill her and warned him to stay away from his uncles after her death. He could have easily preferred to remain silent to protect his siblings.
Witness-protection programs are really essential in this situation. Their aim is to protect individuals from threats because they were courageous enough to report crimes. With such programs, people would be strong and clear defending good against evil.
Protecting witnesses would encourage everyone to report crimes. People usually prefer not to interfere and remain silent because they worry about the process of investigations and interrogations.
That’s a negative choice people are forced to live by when they are scared. In order for societies to cleanse their environments from sins and crimes they need courage and boldness in telling the truth.
So many victims lose their rights simply because of the fear of speaking up. It is our responsibility to teach our children that it is dangerously wrong to conceal the truth. It is everyone’s responsibility to educate others about the importance of bravery and boldness.
