Bini Dahal

Do you consider it a good idea to leave behind your children alone at home or under the guardianship of some distant relatives? And would you feel secure after doing so? These are some of the questions that pass through every parent's minds. But lately, the frequency of questioning oneself is on the rise. It is all because of the increasing abduction cases. According to the data unveiled by Nepal Police, the country recorded a whopping number of 104 kidnapping cases in the fiscal year 2018-19. This is the highest figure in the last five years.
Kidnapping is turning into a serious problem in our society. The latest incident is that of an abduction of three children (below 14 years) by a close acquaintance of the family who used the opportunity of the absence of their mother to abduct them. The children were lured into going along with the kidnapper by saying that the mother had asked him to take care of them. Three days after the abduction, the criminal-minded person informed the mother about the kidnapping and blackmailed her with a ransom of Rs.300,000. But fortunately, the children were rescued unharmed by the police. Also the perpetrator was caught immediately.
It was just the tips of the iceberg. Hundreds of thousands of children fall into clutches of kidnappers across the world every day. The perpetrators are involved in such activities to make a huge ransom. And they do it in one pretext or another. The most difficult thing to digest is that most kidnappers are not strangers; rather they are some sort of acquaintance or even close relatives.
One single reason behind this deceit is money. There is no doubt that money has become a part and parcel of our life. There are still some people who will say, "Money is not important". But sadly, it is quite difficult for anybody to exist in a materialistic and competitive world without money. Therefore, money forces people to act in impulse and do things that they should completely avoid in their lifetime. Unemployment and poverty are the major triggering factors that cause people to think irrationally. They can make people believe that they can have a new beginning if they get themselves indulged in kidnapping and other illegal activities.
Also, unemployed people find it lucrative to kidnap some rich person as they will easily give away money as ransom for their safety. Another reason could be illiteracy. Mostly illiterate people are found to be involved in incidents like kidnapping because most of the time it can be observed that they lack the ability to make right decisions and are mostly driven by their irrational and emotional minds. The growing level of corruption and criminalisation of politics are other driving forces behind such heinous crimes.
With each passing generation, our world is becoming stronger in the field of science and technology. But the irony is that our humanity is degrading and we are becoming more of a devil and less of a human. At time when humans are supposed to help each other, they are always found waiting for an opportune moment to do something harmful to others. This is very saddening. Every human being has the right to live a free and dignified life. The parents and society must remain vigilant against such crimes. The state has a bigger responsibility to carry out for ensuring the safety and security of its all the citizens.