I just read something in today's newspaper (The Saturday, September 5, 1998 edition of The Orange County Register) that made me very sad and very angry:
Orange County Register,
Saturday, September 5, 1998,
Front Page:Mother held in deaths of her six children, found strangled
CRIME: The woman admitted to the slayings in a call to police, authorities say.
By MARGRET TAUS
The Associated Press
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Police knew the address: 1541 Timberlake Road, Apartment G. They'd been called there at least 15 times in the past 18 months.
On Friday, the beige stucco apartment was surrounded by crime-scene tape while police investigated the slayings of the six children who lived there. Their 24-year-old mother was in custody at a hospital after police said she called to say she had killed them.
"This is a terrible example of domestic violence," police Chief William Finney said.
A social worker had been dealing with the family for some time, Finney said, but "there was never any indication the children were in this kind of danger."
Police and paramedics found Khoua Her lying inside the doorway of her apartment just after 7 p.m. Thursday. They saw the body of a child behind her and found the other five throughout the apartment. They had not been dead long, Finney said. Paramedics could not revive the three boys and three girls.
Police identified them as Kouaeai Hang, 11; Samson Hang, 9; Nali Hang, 9; Tang Lung Hang, 7; Aee Hang, 6; and Tung Ke Hang, 5. They all were strangled, according to the medical examiner.
Her, who spoke of suicide when she called 911, was taken to a hospital with unknown injuries. Her condition was not released. Police said they believe she did try to kill herself.
...
...Police say she [Her] was estranged from her husband, who was not living with the family.
...
Her left Minnesota for several months without the children, Yang [the next door neighbor] said. When she was at home, Yang said, she didn't seem to supervise the children closely, letting them walk alone in the street.
She seemed like "someone who was not really taking care of her kids," Yang said.
Finney acknowledged numerous police visits to the apartment on domestic violence calls before but said "there was never any indication the children were in this kind of danger."
...
Authorities said charges were unlikely to be filed against Her...
Mai Xiong, a friend of Her's new boyfriend, said the mother loved her children...
She "Loved" her children??? My God, she sure had a bizarre way of expressing that "Love"!!!
Something is wrong with this news article. To begin with, it was on page 11. That's right, not page 1, page 11. Obviously, if the perpetrator and victims had been Caucasian, or if they had been wealthy, the story would not only be on page one, but it would be the nation-wide headline! But the persons involved were "only" poor Laotians, so the story is "not important". AARRGGHH!!!
And what is up with this attitude of the police and social workers? The cops had been called to that apartment fifteen times in recent months on domestic violence calls, and yet the cops and social workers thought "there was never any indication the children were in danger." Bullshit! The real truth is, there was never any indication of intelligent life in the St. Paul Police and Social Services departments!
The most infuriating thing of all, however, is that little quote, "Authorities said charges were unlikely to be filed against Her..." Pardon me??? A woman commits six counts of brutal, cold-blooded first-degree murder against innocent, helpless children, and the stupid police are not going to press charges??? What is happening to our country??? Don't the lives of our children mean anything anymore??? The penalty for this woman's ill-considered actions should be immediate execution by long, slow torture. Being whipped to death, or perhaps slowly disemboweled, or slow-roasted over a hot fire, might be suitable punishments. But instead, she will probably receive "counseling", and be told, "it's not nice to murder children. You really shouldn't oughta do that, you know." Then she will be given a slap on the wrist, and let loose, so she can go get herself pregnant again, raise more children, and murder them, too.
This "Khoua Her" bitch should be publicly executed, not coddled. No one in our country should be allowed to get away with brutal crimes against children!
Least of all parents. I get the impression that a lot of crimes against children in this country go unpunished, even if reported to police, because in our society, children are seen as being property of their parents. But I strongly disagree with this. Children are not property. No one may "own" a child. Just because a person is a parent to a child, does not give that person any more right to do things to that child than anyone else has. A parent is merely a child's caretaker, not his/her owner. Children are not pets! It is time that adults in this country start realizing that, and stop treating children like sub-humans. Remember, the child you victimize today, my be your doctor, nurse, landlord, boss, or other person with power over you tomorrow. Today's children are the adults of the future. And today's parents have the responsibility to safeguard the future, by safeguarding today's children. Any person who doesn't have the resources to do that should not have children in the first place. Or if he/she already has children, he/she should give them up for adoption immediately. Parents who shirk their responsibility should be punished. Parents who abuse their children should be abused in like fashion. And parents who kill their children, should be executed!
That is my point of view on that issue!
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