The Effects of the By Stander Effects in the Society: Case Study- Kitty Gevonese New York (1964)
" Anger is directed, not towards the crime, nor the criminal, but towards those who failed to halt the criminal's action." -The Nation 1964.
A 28 years old bartender was killed in her apartment's parking in the wee hours of the morning. The perpetrator stabbed for the first time and walked away after she screamed and someone shouted at the killer. The people in the apartment block were awoken by the commotion outside or belong, but all they could do was to stare through their windows.
About 32 minutes later, the killer came back and added more stabs on Kitty who screamed more. The most the neighbors or the eyewitnesses did was to call the police who did turn up until later when she was dead.
She clawed to the entrance where she died in the hands of her woman neighbor; the only one who dared to come out of her house.
The neighbor stander by behavior; one person keeps off an incident, hoping the next will or is doing something about, costed Kitty's life which could have been saved by even making noise or scaring the killer that the police were on the way.
In total, the number of the people who heard or saw the crime happening were 38 or a bit more and could have overpowered one man with a knife; if he had a gun he could have shot her instead of stabbing.
So, we should be our Brother's keepers and avoid the cliches of I do not want to be involved, it's time and money consuming especially in attending court proceedings.
The killer, Winston Mosley, claims not to remember all the specifics of the crime (partial amnesia) and so they remain vague- the 38 witnesses could have shed much light on the crime but most have remained hands off, hence the motive of the murder remains unclear.
Kitty's family hurts up to today (over 50 years later) with a million questions unanswered. However, this case brought up the founding of the SOS number 911 that has saved millions since then!
Think of what if it was YOU or your friend or your family member, and relate it to situations you could have acted to save another human being from being oppressed.
HAVE A NICE TIME MEDITATING ON THIS!! and upvote this post!!
This a call to all of us to act positively when we see other people in hurting situations whether violent, office, school, economic, social status, racial or religious discriminations. It might happen to you!