Alarming

The car of Kristelle 'Kae' Davantes has been located. It was found apparently abandoned, not before some items like the chairs were removed. Finally, a breakthrough of sorts. Perhaps the criminals couldn't fence the car because of the attention the case has generated in media and social networking sites. They also couldn't chop it up and sell it for parts because of the same reason, or they did not know how. Perhaps nobody wanted to have anything to do with the car, not after it was reported how the owner was brutally murdered.

Kae Davantes, a senior account manager in an ad agency, was on her way home from The Fort in Taguig, when along the way she was intercepted, bound and gagged, then repeatedly stabbed and possibly strangled, to make sure she would no longer be able to talk to anyone. Her lifeless body was then thrown under a bridge in Cavite. Why is that? Did they want the car, which has now been found abandoned, or was it something else? Was Davantes herself the target of this brutal crime? With the monsters still loose, we can only speculate. It is hoped that the two hundred thousand peso reward put up for any information leading to the capture of the perpetrators yields results soon.

It is also alarming to see women more frequently victimized by violent crime nowadays. We have this case of Davantes, the numerous rapes and murders in apparently God-forsaken Laguna, the brutal killings of women on the road just to get their vehicles, the senseless rape and killing of a former ABS-CBN talent, just because of envy. How safe are women who drive alone today? If crimes occur when night falls, why is it that there seem to be less policemen on the roads at night? There should be more police presence at night, and not during rallies in the morning!

What good is a robust economy if crime is rampant, especially towards women? Peace and order in any society is of utmost importance. Investors will not bring business in if they are at risk of being intercepted at night and killed for their vehicles. Since CCTV footage has proven to help in crime solving, why can't we have more of these if we cannot have more police? There cameras for traffic, why can't there be cameras for crime prevention? There must be a way where a vehicle can be tracked once apparent that something amiss has occurred. Or a device that attracts the attention of anyone, hopefully the police, when attacked. Inasmuch as we leave crime fighting to the police, the citizenry should become more active in the fight as well. There is nothing more tempting to a criminal than a seemingly helpless victim. There should be more deterrents, like electrical fencing around homes. We cannot electrify the car, or can we? If there are panic rooms in some houses, shouldn't there be a sort of panic button in cars, if only to attract attention? If the police are powerless, perhaps some of the citizens around can help?

Something for inventors to think about.