It’s difficult to shrug aside the notion that Theresa Fox is a frustrated and angry woman.
In fact she has reason to be very upset.
Ms Fox is calling on motorists to be vigilant when travelling in Suva.
The warning comes in the wake of a grab and run theft that she claims left her a whole lot poorer and affected.
Ms Fox claimed she lost cash and valuables when a young boy snatched her bag while she was driving. The robbery, she said, happened in Nabua.
“I was dropping off a parcel at a relative’s place along Sukunivalu Rd, Nabua, last Friday.
“I was driving down the road between 7.30pm and 8pm. When I slowed down to turn into a bend, a young boy reached into my car and grabbed my bag which was on the front passenger seat.”
Police spokeswoman Ana Naisoro said last night a 17-year-old suspect was in custody in relation to the theft.
The report follows another one last month when a university student was forced to pull out of her exams after she was brutally attacked on a bus in Nadera, Nasinu.
Mere Rauca, 20, dislocated her shoulder after a man, aided by two others, tried to steal her mobile phone while she was on a call.
She was on her way home from evening prayers and “was just about five minutes away when the bus reached Sagani, near Nadera, where three men got into the bus”.
The University of the South Pacific student said she was the only passenger on the bus at the time.
Police spokeswoman Ana Naisoro was quoted at the time saying the three men allegedly involved in the attack were in police custody.
Such incidents raise many questions.
We can only hope this isn’t an example of a fragmented society.
We hope we are not breeding lawlessness among our young people.
If this is a sign of things happening in our Capital City, then there is a certain expectation that those tasked with ensuring law and order will take appropriate action.
Thieves are prepared to attack anywhere, it seems.
This is frightening! We need to understand why this is happening and take appropriate action.
The police have a challenge to uphold the rule of law.
That does not take away the fact that we all have a duty to abide by these laws daily.
But clearly something isn’t right, and we must embrace the need to fight this shocking behaviour.
Such thugs have no place in society.
They devalue our appreciation of life itself, and of the right of Fijians to live in peace and harmony, free from fear of criminals.
However, in saying that, the powers that be have an obligation to better understand what’s happening around them, appreciate shortcomings, and urgently put in place measures that will stop such activity.
