What Is This World Coming To?

14 Apr 2011: On Monday morning at 11:30am in Alice Springs, in Australia's Northern Territory, a wheelchair bound woman was making her way down a dirt track, when she was approached by four men, stabbed and robbed.

The un-named woman, who is only 19, was approached by the four men, described to be in their early twenties, who demanded money off her, and threatened to kill her if she didn't hand anything over.

Before the woman knew what was happening, one of the thugs pulled out a pocket knife and stabbed her twice in the foot. They then proceeded to steal $80 from her pocket and fled the scene on foot.

A woman who was dropping her child off at a day care centre nearby, heard the victims cries and alerted the workers inside, who came to assist her and notified emergency services.

The women rushed to the scene with bandages and tried to calm the hysterical young woman down, while they waited for police and ambulance officers to arrive. They noticed the two stab wounds in her foot, just above her toes.

The young woman was taken to hospital to receive treatment. Her stab wounds required stitches. Police were questioning the woman from her hospital bed for further details of the assault and robbery.

The four men were all of Aboriginal appearance, with the main offender who stabbed her, described as wearing a blue t-shirt, Rip Curl shorts and having bleached blond hair. Another of the attackers was wearing a black t-shirt, and black shorts. Anyone with further information about the incident, which happened around 11:30am on Monday 11th April, near Braitling Child Care Centre, is urged to contact Crime Stoppers, on 1800 333 000.

Another gruesome assault that springs to mind for me is from earlier this month in Sydney, when a vision impaired woman was surprised in her home and punched to the ground by her attacker, who then ran off and fled the scene in a car. As a result, the woman lost most of her remaining vision and now only has approximately 25% sight left.

This follows other news of an elderly disabled man being robbed from his home back in February in Perth. The elderly man was outside his home, when the assailant approached the 76 year-old, wheeling him back inside his home, grabbing a knife from the kitchen, and forcing him to hand over his wallet, before fleeing.

All of these stories terrify and anger me. Most of these attacks would be presumed drug-related. There needs to be a crack-down on drug related crimes and offences, to get them off our streets and out of society. They should be locked up! People with disabilities feel vulnerable at the best of times, but with news like this, it just gives no hope to gaining independence.

What next? Are all disabled people going to have to have a security guard with them? I know that most people don't have a chance against a knife wielding maniac, but at least they have the option to fight back, or run. It's quite a scary world we are living in, and I just hope all of the above offenders are caught and prosecuted harshly, but I sadly doubt it...


***Above is a picture of the laneway, where the victim was attacked and robbed***