This will probably be the most sensitive post I'm writing this year, so I'll just go straight to the point. Somewhere last year, I think in March or April, my friend’s little sister was sexually assaulted. It was so bad that I didn’t even want to talk about it and didn’t even know what to tell her. Because the pain she was going through was out of this world.
I’m going to skip the details, but what you should know is that the culprits were actually two, and they did this to her while she was on her way to work. She had never been involved in such an act before, so you can imagine the scar it left on her.
So when I heard that people were actually saying it wasn’t right that prisons were being allowed to enjoy Christmas, that’s the first case that came to mind. I thought about what those guys put my friend’s sister through and how I believed they had to pay for their actions.
And then I remembered that there were actually people in prison who probably don't even know why they are there because they are innocent. I also remembered there were others who had genuinely turned over a new leaf and were even setting examples for others to follow.
There are also others who are forever haunted by their own crimes and are unable to have a good night's rest. But above all, everyone there is stripped of their freedom. Whether they like it or not, they are not going to enjoy the things they used to enjoy for some period of time or a long time, and that alone is enough punishment.
So why judge? And of course, I’m not even better than any of them. One thing I’ve realized is that we categorize bad deeds. Okay, you stole something, so you should be arrested. Well, what about the one that gossiped about someone or made someone feel less of themselves? You are no better than someone because the society has categorized crimes. Oh and also, most people engage in all sorts of crimes but because they are so good at not getting caught, they believe they are smarter and better than these inmates.
Yes, they did bad things and got caught but that doesn’t change the fact that they are humans too. So it’s alright that they are allowed to celebrate Christmas. I believe that the fact that they are even behind bars in this country the whole year has been tormenting enough.
Images are mine
