Daily Lessons from Life 11 January 2010

"Mon, Jan 11, 2010 - The New Paper - Stepmother chops off 6-year-old's ear and fingers

IT WAS the worst possible start to the new year for this little girl.

On 1 Jan, her stepmother allegedly cut off her left ear and four of her fingers, reported Guangzhou Daily.
The newspaper reported that the suspect allegedly dragged the 6-year-old girl into the kitchen of their home in Guangdong, China."

Another sad story to comment on. The step-mother allegedly behaved a bit odd at times resulting in neighbours not talking to her. The father is a nice guy in general and the family is well off financially apparently. So, what triggered this savage attack is unknown to the press at this time and is most baffling.

Lessons for me are:

1. such cruelty can only be committed by a very wicked person if it was carried out with a clear mind! An ordinary person could not have chopped out an ear and four fingers from a little girl. Another case of emotion overwhelming rationality?;

2. whatever the circumstance, the step-mother would have to face the consequence of her uncontrollable outburst as a young life may have been ruined prematurely or a young life made exceedingly difficult and painful to rebuild and move forward. It is quite clear that 'plead of temporary insanity' is not a very commonly used tactic or reason in China for inexplicable crime that seemingly has no or valid motive. However, if she is suffering from permanent mental condition, that will be a different story;

3. I hope the little girl will get all the help required to recuperate and rebuild her life. I am not sure if the father will appear again after leaving the Rmb6000 at the hospital for the initiate treatment. Hopefully he will appear again and support the recovery process of the little girl.

It is sad to read of such family tragedy. I am just glad that we do not have that many cases in Singapore and that most people live in peace and harmony.