Dear Editor,

Sometime ago I wrote a letter on domestic violence, the matter in that instance involved that lady from the East Coast village of Bare Root and her common law husband. I vividly remember the case in question as if it were yesterday, the lady was brutalised and subsequently died at the hands of her abuser. There were very many other Bare Root’s since that story surfaced with deadly consequences resulting and to date domestic violence continues unabated. The reason why this scourge continues is a fault of the victims who in almost all of these cases fail to prosecute the perpetrators of domestic violence, these women often bungle their statements which results in the cases being thrown out completely or even  in open court stating that they do not wish to pursue the matter. I know of cases where the victims would say “meh worship we mek up back, he promise to behave heself” and some of these hardly would have left the courtroom when the abuse cycle begins all over again, many sad to say ending in death.

I am not a legal expert but there are some common sense elements that can be put in place to help curb this menace in society. My view is that once a domestic violence matter comes into the purview of a court of law that case should be dealt with to a successful conclusion by the magistrate. Now if that woman  (and this is the problem area) fails to prosecute the accused then she should be made to pay the court a substantial amount, somewhere around ten times the fee that presently obtains for wasting the court’s time, this is the only remedy I think that would bring some sanity to this foolishness.

Yours faithfully,
Neil  Adams