troubled souls

Well I am sorry to say that this story will be a disturbing one. If you are in a good mood you might not want to read this.
Here goes, There were two criminals here in Banos who along with committing the crimes of stealing, accompanied the thefts/home invasions with murder. These criminals were known in town as dangerous but also they were young, Rachelle's age, all the more upsetting. I understand that the last two victims were an old man and a boy. Here, theft is not such a crime as it is seen as a survival thing and the public has way more tolerance for that crime. In fact, the law here says that if the thief has stolen under $200, it is not a theft. Had the actions of those two people had kept to theft, nothing would more have been said, however that was not the case. The Banians (people who come from Banos) have a limited patience, long though it is has a decisive end. That end came last night.
I went to get minutes for my cell phone, when my wonderful neighbor wanting to protect me and keep me abreast of town events told me that dos landrones (two thieves) were in Banos and dah de dah de dah (because she was talking so fast that I didn't understand her) and the police not helping. At first, I thought there were a bunch of thieves in town and we had to be careful. Shortly thereafter, Rachelle phoned me to let me know she was coming back to town with her boyfriend and she would be arriving shortly. I was concerned for her and told her what I had heard. She then arrived to the terminal, to find that Banos had found and shown its limit to patience in the form of a mob of about 1,000 people. The Banians extracted the 2 thieves and removed them from their apartments and dragged them out to the streets. Rachelle being scared and never having seen a mob, got into the first taxi to home. She arrived safely but disturbed,as we all were. My girlfriend who had been helping with the death of a friend asked if she could stay over, as she felt the need to be surrounded by us, family who love and are there for her. She was traumatized after dealing with the death as well as the happenings of town. After this the stories came in short pieces and then moment to moment, changing often. At first, we heard that the mob was taking the ladrones to the bridge to throw them over. This is usually done on the second bad offence and to the towns' intolerance. So in fact, this was not done. It would have been terrible because this is a very high bridge and the river far below is between cliff walls and is not even ever thought to be passed through by the extreme sport enthusiast. No..... instead the 2 received a severe public beating.... This morning after many different conversations it turned out that neither landron survived. In fact, my friend who was helping with the cremation of the friend who passed the other day and was in Ambato saw the 2 landrones at the funeral home. I understand that the mob became unruly, lost control and that family members of the victims of the thieves were involved in the beatings. Their anger, frustration and loss brutally came out. What was shocking to me and also very disturbing is that some people even filmed, video'ed the event. According to belief, the Banians did not murder the thieves. Banians put them in the hospital, God gave the final judgement by finishing their lives. Here, when criminals are no longer tolerated they are made an example of with no feelings of remorse or dis pare for the recipients of public justice. They are the hand of god. They are warning to future thieves thinking of making a business here to think twice.
The police obviously stayed the hell away from the public action, as the public would also penalize them for allowing the thieves to get away with the crimes to begin with and not put them in prison when they should have and therefore in the eyes of the public are accessories to the crime. Here, the police are servants of the public but the police are often afraid, you can certainly understand why.
For me, I am very disturbed by this form of justice, I am confused.... I do believe that crimes should not go unpunished and I have often said that such severe limits in Canada should also be in place, but this was the first time I had to face myself and my beliefs. I could NEVER do this kind of thing to another person by my own hand, my heart is too soft. But I have to say, that maybe they could have been helped or educated or whatever, like they do in Canada. But in Canada, has that actually stopped those crimes with its' compassion?????
I will carry with me, for my entire life, this night, for with it I carry questions of justice,responsibility, Buddhism, and God.
My friend that died,.... committed suicide with a gun to the head. I think that this form of suicide is nasty for the survivors. The gore. I think that is an unkindness for the survivors who would like to have the last vision of their loved one to be as somewhat pleasant as possible. In this case it was not. My girlfriend who was helping his partner get through this was traumatized a bit by the realities of death and post death. Because the man suicide, the police required an autopsy. Although I don't see the necessity as the back of his head was missing, clearly indicating cause of death. I think they also wanted to make sure that the partner was not the cause of death.
When the friends and family brought the body to the police station, they did a body cavity. This means that they opened the body thorasicly. Then end result is the body was trussed back together like a chicken and there was alot of mess..... again gore. Here, everything is an expense, so the people who work there, did not clean up after, if you get my drift because that expense is felt to be to the family. When asked for materials to clean up the police offered nothing. To clean up the body his friends had to tear up some of the clothes of the body and clean him themselves. Yuck, how could you not be traumatized. His body was taken this morning to Ambato for cremation (my preference to those who are listening). The friends and family loaded the body in the oven. When the burn was over, they were told to sift through the remains for metal pieces as the un-ashed bones had to be put into a "blender" , "grinder", to create a powder. they did their task they found keys and a few coins. Thank god it is finally over. While my girlfriend was there she was relaying the hard cold facts that she was dealing with to help her handle the situation. Shen I called her, suddenly she said, " oh my god, the Blender is going". You can imagine the icy feeling in my blood and the goose bumps on my arms.
In Canada, we are separated from the gore of death. We are kept from the facts, to pretend that nothing bad or demoralizing happens post death. I never thought of that part of it. You knew that the person died, and then you were at a funeral, the end. But that is not the truth of the matter. That truth has made me feel different about what will happen an the end of all things on this life. I have time to think about and come to terms with the end. I realize that the end, where my body is abandoned by my spirit, is no more than just a machine, a vehicle used to pass through this life. In the mean time, I will carry on in my life, trying to be a good person, being open to and having more of life's' experiences, being apart of life's' joys and sadness's, and doing what ever it is that I am supposed to be doing on this earth. This has been a weekend of death and transition to the next step. This also has been a weekend for being fully present for those who we are in relationship with. Being there for those who need us, whether we were close to them or not in this lifetime. It has also been a week of being real with the normal transitions of life. Justice has permanently found a new place in my mind, fairly close to the compassion area of my brain.
Next time I am sure I will be relaying more of life's more pleasant and inspiring details.
Live well, and love well
Robin