Wherever there is law, there will definitely be punishment, and I believe that there should be nobody who is above the law. In fact, every offender of the law must be punished accordingly regardless of their gender or status in society, but unfortunately, the law has become partial. It's so bad that influential people who commit enormous crimes are seen walking around freely while sometimes, the innocent ones are punished despite not committing any crime.
Putting aside the issue of people being convicted unjustly, the crime rate in my part of the world is something else, and that's one of the reasons why I don't like watching or listening to the news anymore. There is always a terrible crime to report, and it annoys me seeing criminals trying to justify themselves just to avoid or reduce their punishment despite being guilty of something terrible.
Sometimes, I ask if people think before taking those criminal actions because I feel like a human in his or her right state of mind should know that this thing I am about to do makes no sense and if I am caught, there will be consequences.
A crime is a crime even though there might be a considerable motivation behind the crime committed. For instance, in a situation of self-defense, a victim can get a lesser or no punishment at all depending on the circumstances, and aside from this, I doubt if there is any crime that is pardoned by the law, which is fine because I know how humans can quickly take things for granted.
However, despite how keen I am on the law taking its proper course on whoever breaks it, I have some exceptions, and it has to do with a hungry person stealing to feed. Although I feel pissed when someone chooses to steal just to feed but it's something I can overlook with some certain conditions: the culprit is a kid or probably a father or mother who is trying to fend for their kids.
There was a similar scene in the Sabo market some years ago that made me emotional, and the fact that there was nothing I could do to help the woman made me sad. She was caught stealing pap, and some market women didn't take it lightly despite the woman pleading that her children were hungry. Help came, but she had been beaten to an extent. I left the market with different thoughts and just wished life was at least fair for everyone.
I really don't know the woman's story so I could end judging her wrongly but one thing I know is that it can be very challenging for parents when they can't provide for their children, and it's always terrible when it has to do with feeding. I know many parents would rather beg or steal when they don't have options again.
As bad as it sounds, I can overlook this and even help such a person in my little way, but there are related situations I won't let go of the culprit easily.
During Christmas, a man stole a chicken somewhere in Ibadan, and I felt disappointed. The law decided to punish him for the crime, and people stepped up to plead on his behalf. People blamed the situation of the country, poverty, and other things, but I saw something different. He wasn't hungry because chicken wouldn't be his target if he was truly starving. He was greedy and just wanted to celebrate Christmas more than he could afford.
Allowing him to go without any form of punishment can encourage people to commit the same crime. He shouldn't be sent to prison, but punishment like doing community service for a duration of time is fine, or probably rehabilitation if the person is obsessed with the habit of stealing for food instead of making efforts to earn money.
Many times, I have come across kids begging for food, and I always try to do my best for them after a brief discussion because some of these kids aren't hungry. They just need money for things their parents won't agree to, and instead of giving cash, I have the habit of buying them food.
I am not disputing the fact that this is a crime, nor am I condoning the act, but I can't just pass a punishment on someone starving, and like I mentioned earlier, the culprit of this petty crime can be handed punishment like community services.
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Stealing food can be considerable but stealing money or other things is not justifiable. I think maximum time it's about the choice when it comes to stealing. Moreover, You already said about a light punishment but do you think it will encourage others to do the crime as they can think the punishment is very light? The human mind is complicated and hard to understand.