Editorial | No to mob justice

Whoever killed Shani Coke, the 10-year-old girl who was believed to have been raped before her gruesome murder in Trelawny, deserves to be arrested, taken before the court, tried for the crime, and made to feel the full consequence of law.

In other words, that person should be afforded, and made to know, justice. If that constitutionally guaranteed process is denied to an accused person, there is no certainty that it will be available to the most decent and law-abiding Jamaican. Then, law and justice become arbitrary, to be dispensed by anyone who assumes or appropriates the right to do so – from someone who claims the imprimatur of the State to an angry mob or the leaders thereof.

When such behaviour is allowed to stand, the rule of law corrodes, the foundation society falters, and the institutions of democracy it supports are threatened.

Which is why The Gleaner welcomes the announcement by the police that the murder of Shani Coke remains under active investigation. It is why, too, the investigation of the mob killing of Delroy Coke, and the detention of a suspect in the matter, if based on credible evidence – is entirely appropriate.

Delroy Coke was a convicted rapist, who residents of Troy, Trelawny, where little Shani lived, say was a repeat offender. Or, that he demonstrated an inclination to commit more sex crimes. They also allege that police didn’t respond to complaints of his threatening voyeurism and stalking. Shani’s father also said that, when Delroy Coke was let out of prison after serving his sentence for rape, the offender’s family was unsuccessfully prevailed upon not to allow him to stay in the community.

BREAKDOWN

If these claims are true, they suggest a breakdown or failure of systems, at worst, and, at the very least, an absence of empathy or care by the police for those who complained. Their operation mechanisms didn’t work. We, however, await the response of the constabulary to these accusations of failings.

But, as much as they may partly explain the frustrations felt by the residents of Troy, they do not excuse the mob justice some of them exercised against Delroy Coke, even if Mr Coke, as was alleged, admitted to Shani’s murder. That claim was not tested in a court of law.

The known facts are that, one day last week, little Shani was sent to a shop in the community. She didn’t return within a reasonable time. There was a search for her. Her body was discovered in a community near Troy. Her throat was slashed. It was suspected that she was raped.

In the aftermath of the discovery, a mob beat Delroy Coke to death. His father was attacked, but his condition is not known.

Subsequently, Maxwell Henry, a Troy resident, was arrested in connection with Delroy Coke’s death. The police said they were in search of two other persons of interest.

However, the residents of Troy demonstrated against the police’s action, suggesting that no one should be held accountable for Delroy Coke’s murder. Which, on the prima facie evidence, was what his killing amounted to.

NOT ALLOWED TO HAPPEN

That ought not to be the case or allowed to happen. Indeed, it is hoped that this matter marks a turning point against vigilantism, which is a long-standing and not infrequent occurrence in Jamaica, and about which the police, unfortunately, don’t regularly publish overarching statistics. Alleged rapists and livestock and thieves are the more frequent victims of mob justice.

In February, a 25-year-old labourer, Javori Dunbar, was beaten and chopped to death in the community of Bermaddy, St Catherine. He was spotted in the community and identified as the man who the night before had attempted to rape a woman. Earlier this month, a taxi operator and a taxi driver, accused of stealing and slaughtering cattle, were beaten to death in Gibraltar, St Ann.

There have been many similar cases over several decades, with few ever reaching the court. It is not this newspaper’s sense that this form of vigilantism receives the same attention from law enforcement as other crimes. Indeed, the norm is for communities to cheer on and celebrate these kinds of mob killings, without care for the ideals of justice or concern that the ‘wrong’ person might be the victim of murder. Although there can be no ‘right’ victim of mob killing.

There are many reasons why individuals and communities might feel entitled to take the law into their hands. But vigilante justice is never right.

When mobs rule, or people feel empowered to act with impunity because they enjoy a protective shield, no one is safe and civilised society is in peril. So, the Jamaica Constabulary Force is on the right track in Troy.