Justice delayed is justice denied
In every big city, it is not unnatural for some crimes to remain unsolved. But when it becomes a pattern, we need to worry. And when political or some other connections seem to be the reasons for the cases remaining unsolved, then we need to become very worried—the four high-profile murders which remain unresolved after all these years fall in that very worrisome category. The case of two journalists, Sagar and Runi, has been under investigation for over eight years, though the then home minister, Sahara Khatun, promised that the perpetrators would be apprehended within 48 hours. Just as her promise was unthinking, so also is the present delay unacceptable. Police, RAB and other agencies took time extensions 70 times and in the meantime, seven officers have investigated it so far. Will it be wrong on our part to suspect that the investigation process is now a mere joke when, after 70 time extensions, the authorities still cannot say much about when the investigation will be completed, let alone when the case will come to trial?
The other three cases—one is seven years old and two others are nearly four years old each—are also in a limbo. Two of them appear to have been politically influenced. The police is directly involved in the third case, which could be the reason for the case suffering from an inexplicable inertia.
These four cases aside, there are thousands of others that haven't seen the light of day in years, if not decades. When cases don't get solved and no proper explanation is given, the worst type of impression is created in the public mind—that committing the most heinous of crimes is not a big deal as there are too many loopholes in the investigation process. The saddest of consequences that inevitably follows is the feeling that laws don't matter, especially if you are rich, powerful and politically connected. Under no circumstances can we let that happen.
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