UKC

The cynic in me generally prevents me from being shocked by anything much. But I'm sitting here, having only just come across this, in tears of rage. I'm only really posting this because everybody should know about it.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/tugce-albayrak-germany-pays-...

It looks as though they've got the little s**t, but for the life of me, I can't think of anything bad enough to do to him next.

Martin

In reply to maisie:

So sad.

In reply to marsbar:

I'm not sure that sad really describes my current feelings about it. Just a bit out of words at the moment.

Martin

In reply to maisie:

As sad as the story is, the Independent is getting some details wrong that change the flavour somewhat. The assault was a single punch with the fist, no bat involved. The friend of the perpetrator tried to hold him off, but he managed to reach around and hit the woman with a single punch that caused her to fall on the back of her head. On the other hand, the "women" she tried to help were girls of about 13 years of age, and the "restaurant" a McDodgy.
What pisses me off that some useless shit felt insulted in his "honour" (as claimed when arrested, since then he is silent) after being told off by a woman for molesting some girls. 10 years in jail followed by deportation to Turkey seems about right.
Turkish students like Tunce and her family are absolutely welcome, and we should take a much higher quota of refugees coming over the Mediterranean (the current system that you are only able to seek asylum in the first EU country you enter is completely perverse), and anyway in my view Germany is much too boring and German, but we should really get rid of all the losers that believe they don't need a western education and get their social orientation form a medieval, patriarchic islam.

CB

In reply to cb294:

Thanks for that, CB, I very much appreciate the clarifications. I take it you live in Germany?

I think many of the news outlets here will have got their info from the same place, as I first picked it up on the BBC website; The Independent is usually a little more careful, though.

None of which really lessens my anger. My abhorrence of violence used by the strong against the weak stems in large part from my own guilt: when I was 18, I saw a man punch a woman and I did nothing about it. Someone else did, and it would be convenient for me to pretend that had he not done so, I would have stepped in. But I know that's not true - I was rooted to the spot and the shame has never left me. On many occasions since, I have jumped in. But I'll never be able to make up for that first situation.

I have kids, including a daughter. I've brought them up to fundamentally believe in the principle of 'say something, see something', whatever the cost. What if this is a true reflection of that cost in today's society? Tugce's parents obviously instilled her actions into her, and some useless oxygen thief, an impediment to the rest of the human race, thought that his honour would be upheld by punching a woman. Why is he even in existence?

What do you suppose his parents taught him?

Sorry, perhaps a little blown-out for a sober Sunday evening - thanks for the reply.

Martin

In reply to cb294:


None of which, in my eye, lessens the utter depravity of the act.

Hang him.

In reply to stroppygob:


I absolutely agree.


One would hope that we had moved on from that approach....

CB

In reply to maisie:

Hi Martin,

I am indeed a German living in Germany, but stick around on UKC since my postdoc time in the UK. I also regularly visit friends in the UK, and still do quite a bit of climbing there.

I agree that the exact circumstances of the crime do not make much of a difference in this case. However, there may be other cases where mistakes or embellishments like this may have a strong influence on our reactions, even including political or military responses. Iraq, Kosovo, or Ukraine, anyone?

To what extent can we trust the media coverage of anything if they get things wrong even when the facts are completely in the open? I am completely sure that German newspapers make the same mistakes when reporting UK or US news, and try to read the Guardian and NYT online as often as possible to get a second view.

Wish I had not forgot all my high school Russian, though, or had learned to read Chinese, that might be even more relevant.

Christian

In reply to cb294:



Some have, some haven't