Just imagine...you're a 20 year old single mother that has just lost your child in a custody battle with the state. The next thing you know, you're abducted by a sexual predator. For the next ten years of your life you are locked up in a strange home and brutally raped and beaten by your captor on a regular basis. You have no control over anything in your life. You are treated only as a thing to be used.You can't choose what or when you eat. You can't choose when or where you sleep. You are not allowed outside. You are not allowed to speak to anyone. You become pregnant and are starved and beaten by your captor until you miscarry your unborn child...five times over the ten years you spend in hell. You are beaten so severely that your face needs reconstructive surgery and you lose your hearing in one ear. Your only escape is in your sleep and your nightmares make even that hell...for ten years...for ten years. Such is the story of Michelle Knight, now 32.
In the same building two other young women were being held and treated the same way. Amanda Berry, now 27, and Gina De Jesus, 22. They were not allowed to see, or speak to, each other for most of the ten years they were captive. Amanda's mother died while Amanda was held captive. Her mother never gave up hope of seeing her daughter again. Now Amanda will never see her mother again in this life. Amanda bore a child to her captor, a child born of kidnapping and rape. She has, no doubt, been torn between her feelings of repulsion, fear and loneliness and her natural feelings of love for her child. Her child, a little girl, was locked in the same home. In the short six years of her life she has never seen or played with another child. It has been reported that her biological father took her to the park on, at least, one occasion. Beyond that she has never been outside. She has never been to a doctor. She's never been to a playground, a movie, a birthday party or even to school. She has seen things that no child should ever see. Now, she will grow up knowing what a monster her biological father was. She will need to make peace with that.
Gina was the friend of her captors daughter before she was abducted. Perhaps her betrayal was the worst...the father of her friend was the monster she didn't see.
These three young suvivors were recently released from the hell they were held in for ten years...for ten years... Many facts are yet to come out in the investigation but the worst part of this nightmare is over for these women. Now their healing can begin.
The rabid animal that perpetrated this heinous evil had no remorse upon being caught. He was even cocky according to police. He stated that he was 'cold-blooded' and a 'sex addict'. His only regret was being caught. He is charged with four counts of kidnapping and three counts of rape...for the nightmare that he put these innocent young women through for ten years...for ten years. He may be charged with murder for the unborn children he forcefully caused their mother to abort. The District Attorney in charge of this case may seek the death penalty. You can rest assured that he awaits an eternal death...
To kidnap someone for an hour brings the same charge that doing so for ten years brings? To rape someone for years brings the same charge as raping someone once? It seems our laws just aren't equipped to deal with the magnitude of such evil. It is almost incomprehensible even to other kidnappers and rapists. Make no mistake though...there are others out there doing similar things. He, and those like him, are like a vile cancer in the human race. They must be cut out and removed for the good of all.
On a personal level, a part of me would like to have an hour with the low life scum that did this. He would beg for death before that hour was over! Another part of me knows that to do such things would be to do damage to my own soul. It would be lowering myself to the level of this rabid animal. That's one reason why it is left to the state to exact justice and not to individuals. It keeps us from becoming as low as this scum.
What I would like to see the government do in this case is deliver real justice. I would like to see this scum chained up in a small cell wherein he would be beaten and raped on a daily basis; given only enough bread and water to survive and left in that condition for the remainder of his miserable life. The punishment should fit the crime...an eye for an eye. There are times when the state must "draw a hard line" and show no mercy. Individuals are called on to turn the other cheek for their own good but for there to be peace the state must pursue justice. Human life is so precious that taking it demands a life in it's place. That's the kind of justice the Bible advocates.
The press has approached this story like it's for our entertainment. It is not. This is about the lives of our fellow human beings. It's too easy for this story to be just the latest news sensation. This is about real people...touched by real evil. It should touch each of us because these women are a part of our family. It is our compassion that separates us from the rabid animals that commit such atrocities.
It's too easy to get caught up in thoughts of what I would like to do to the depraved scum who put these young women through such a nightmare. It's not about me though. It's not even about him. God will deal with him. He will burn in hell and even his memory will be forgotten. This is about the four innocent lives devastated by their encounter with such darkness. And, it is about the triumph of the human spirit despite the evil that tried to destroy it.
First, I have to note of the courage of Amanda Berry, the young mother who found the strength to call for help and end this ten year nightmare in hell. Perhaps it was the love for her daughter that gave her the strength to overcome the fear that must have gripped her. All these young women likely suffered from the Stockholm Syndrome and who knows what other issues.
I am in awe that all three of these women are said to be in good spirits after their ordeal. This would have driven many people insane. But, these women walked away. Their strength speaks to the resilience of the human spirit. They survived. They survived! That means they win! Their ordeal will NOT define them! Though it is common for people that have been treated so to feel guilty for their own actions. These women have NOTHING to feel guilty for. They went into 'survival mode'...and they survived! Realizing that will be a part of their healing process. They can now walk in the sun and hold their heads high.
My heart and my prayers go out to these young women. They will need a great deal of time and space now. They will need the love and support of their family, their friends and their communities. I understand their community has already established a fund to help them recover. It has found donors from compassionate people all over the world.
It will, no doubt, take years for these women to heal but, by God's grace, they will heal. May God give them the strength to testify against the monster who did this. May He give them His grace and His spirit to heal... May they be in all our prayers because they are a part of our human family...made in the image of the Living God.
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"I'm here, I'm free now"... Amanda Berry
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