When a teenage girl can’t be safe in her own home, living in a gated subdivision, it makes one wonder how safe is the rest of the place and by extension the city, town or province that she lives in.
Karen Kaye Montebon lived in relative comfort in Corinthian Subdivision in barangay Suba-Maslog, Lapu-Lapu City.
The area is not a crime-ridden urban ghetto.
Yet nobody heard a scream or notice a commotion between 7 a.m. or 8 a.m. when she was likely struggling for her life.
The college freshman was found dead in her bedroom, the victim of strangulation.
Police are focused on finding out who had the last contact with her, who held any hostility towards her, and who took her iPad mini and DLSR camera.
Karen was happy and healthy, when her father left for work at 6 a.m. The typical working class family scene played out that morning with both parents stepping out for their commitments, and an elder sister off for school.
Coming home past 5 p.m., the father James, a company electrician discovered his youngest daughter on the floor, bloodied and lifeless.
The speed of social media sent a photo of this grim scene circulating online.
Invasive, tasteless and insensitive, this “share” by Netizens who thrilled at the sight , was participation in dehumanizing a person who could no longer stand up for herself.
A better way of using social media emerged in the collective pressure of a community on law enforcement grups to solve the crime and bring the perpetrators to justice.
Facebook and Twitter also helped guide the waves of outrage to a healing process in solidarity vigils in the campus of the University of San Carlos, with prayer and reflection about the loss of an innocent, young student.
Crime doesn’t exempt residents of private subdivisions, no matter how many security agencies are hired round the clock or how strict the gate checks are.
An intent to do evil can manifest itself in urban poor and wealthy communities, alike.
In a way, the furor over Karen’s violent death is magnified by the advantages she had in life — her youth, the pixie-like beauty that stares out in photos, her middle-income family comforts, the college freshman promise of a full life ahead, the private security of her subdivision.
While the homeowners association of Corinthian Subidivision seriously thinks about buying CCTV cameras, it would be good to remember that the best form of residential security is not high walls or an electronic eye but caring neighbors who watch out for each other, value harmony and raise the alarm when a malevolent visitor comes knocking.
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