Often, when a murder is reported, one wonders what goes on in the mind of the killer. What vengeful or jealous thoughts could drive a person to deprive another of life? When the killing is premeditated, one wonders if at the time of planning, the murderer/s would not have temporarily taken leave of his/her/their sanity. It must be, or there would be some point at which the fact that someone would cease to exist as a result of what is being contemplated would jolt the conscience.

The fact that human life seems to have no value in Guyana has become a cliché and as incongruous as it may seem, some persons have become immune to the devaluation, laughing in the face of death as they go about their daily business. However, the ongoing and escalating bloodletting still causes many of us to experience shock, disgust, deep soul-shaking sadness and a wearying of the spirit.

The discovery of the body of 26-year-old Creavone Thorne of Lyng Street, Charlestown in a trench at Thomas Lands on Thursday morning brings this forcefully home, coming on the heels, as it were, of the murders of eight other young women and girls, whose ages ranged between 13 and 29.

The past few months have seen the murders of 29-year-old Anjanie Mahdoo called ‘Pinky’ of Alexander Village, who was also found in a trench, at LBI, East Coast Demerara (ECD) late last month; Trevlyn Nicholson, 23, of D’Edward Village West Coast Berbice; Nafeeza Khan, 25, of Goed Fortuin, West Bank Demerara; Alicia Foster, 25, of Thomas Street, Kitty; Kavita Panday, 13, of West Coast Berbice; Fiona Fraser-McPherson, 24, of Supply, East Bank Demerara; Sheliza Khan, 15, of Lancaster Village, ECD and Shaneiza Khan, 22, of Enmore, ECD.

Seven young women and two girls dead, in less than six months and these are not the only ones—just the ones killed since June. As if the fact that their lives have ended practically before they have really begun were not enough, one must also come to terms with the gruesomeness of some of the crimes. The stabbing and chopping of their bodies and the instances where sexual assault, prior to death, in the course of the murder or perhaps even after, has been a factor. One wonders at the depths of depravity to which mankind has sunk, taking into consideration that none of these murders appears to be physically linked. In other words, these nine murders do not seem to be the work of a serial killer or gang.

The murder toll is significant when one tots up the men who have also been killed over the same period in the course of armed robberies, over drinks, petty jealousy, over drugs as well as for other reasons so far unknown.

Calls have been and continue to be made for action by the police, the joint services and the government to curb crime, particularly that which results in the loss of life. One cannot with honesty say that nothing has been done or no programmes implemented, what seems to be the case here is that crime has outrun and outranked its solvers. It is time for a different approach.