Let’s put dialogue before altercations and rage

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There are a few takeaways from our horror report of a young man strangling his teenage friend and throwing her body in the sea. This paper led with a report about a 22-year-old man killing his 18-year-old female friend after a fight about money. The girl had apparently been pressuring the boy to return some money he had borrowed from her.

He gave her part of the sum, according to the report, but she was insisting on the money in its entirety. During a heated argument, he strangled her with a cable wire, put the body in a sack and threw it into the waters at Madh beach. The two were friends and had known each other since childhood.

The police arrested the man soon after, but there are several lessons here besides the obvious shock and horror.

First, money lending or borrowing usually spoils relationships, whether they be friendships or family relations. While there may be exceptions and extenuating circumstances, this is largely true.

Secondly, we have to put human life above all. Today, there seems to be a focus and stress on material things. While being aspirational is not bad, it is the lengths we can go to, to obtain material objects that give us happiness, that we must relook at as a society.

Rage, whether it be road rage or arguments, is very quickly escalating into dangerous and dire situations. Youngsters fight over cricket matches on the road and suddenly somebody is over their head with a bat. A young life is lost. Arguments get heated and spiral into physical violence. Pelting stones is seen as routine. Society seems to have lost its moral compass and there is nothing to rein us in today.

We need conscience like a guiding star, regard for human life on top of a pyramid and always stress dialogue over altercation. Let us get our priorities right.