At the time a rapist pounced on an 18-year-old lady as she was returning from a wedding ceremony in June last year in the Savelugu area of the Northern Region,which led to her death in a hospital later, we joined others to express disgust at the cruelty.
We were pained that the suspect fled after the act; we were nonetheless,hopeful that he would eventually be nabbed.
Even as he eluded justice, parents of the deceased and other family members were left to live an unending state of melancholy with no closure, as the suspect continued to hide.
It was our position that such criminals cannot hide without the support of others.
The good news, as contained in one of the stories in this issue, is that the suspect has not been able to elude arrest indefinitely. He has been arrested and with justice certainly going to be administered, the family and other victims of rape can heave a sigh of relief. For others, it is relieving that rapists will always be hunted down and arraigned when citizens, who have information about such acts cooperate with the law enforcement agents.
One feature of the arrest of the fugitive is about how community persons and the chief of Diaye, where the suspect returned after hiding somewhere else, since the incident occurred, joined hands to assist the police to arrest the rapist.
It is a rare development hardly witnessed in our communities.
It is this kind of cooperation between the law enforcement agencies and the public which can deny criminals places to hide.
Many criminals have eluded justice because persons with vital information that can lead to their arrests have not been forthcoming with such details.
As always said, law enforcement is a shared responsibility between state security agents and members of the public.
We would not be able to enjoy peace when criminals are allowed to do as they please with impunity even as the community residents refuse to assist the law enforcement agents in tracking down such hoodlums.
There is no doubt that had the chief of Diare and his subjects declined cooperation with the police, the suspect would have continued to be out of reach of the law.
There are too many rapists in our midst; we support the law to send them where they belong for correctional purposes so we can be safe from their predatory ways.
The Northern Regional Police Command deserve commendation for eventually catching up with the Savelugu rapist.