A couple of days ago, on 03rd January, 2025, Tumuhirwe Precious, a 35-year-old housemaid was captured on a phone camera brutally torturing a 4-year-old girl left in her charge. The child’s grave crime was soiling her clothes.
Children of 4-5 years old are sometimes not able to control their bladder and bowel habits, and it is not uncommon for accidents to happen. It is at this stage of development that they are undergoing toilet training, and punishment for a few mishaps is uncalled for.
Visiting upon the defenceless minor grievous bodily harm bordering on attempted murder, Tumuhirwe beat, bit, head-butted and slammed her victim to the ground. And she did so with such rage, that it is not in doubt that she caused severe injuries, and permanent scars, both physical and emotional. All this was captured on phone camera.
This is not the first time a caretaker is caught on camera abusing a minor, and unfortunately not the last time either. On 10th August 2024, another video showing Lukwago David, a 56-year-old father from Njeru municipality, strangling a minor using a mosquito net – his biological 12-year-old son, Kyola Morgan – circulated on social media.
Kyola’s wrongdoing – seeking refuge at his uncle Isma’s home after being abandoned at home for slightly more than a month without food.
On the 15th of July 2024 at approximately 12 pm, at Esso corner in Kampala City, cameras (both CCTV and phone cameras) captured Joshi Keshav, a 32-year-old tour and travel company operator, being robbed by a group of youth riding on motorcycles. He was beaten and lost a laptop valued at 2.2 million UGX, and 150,000 Uganda Shillings in cash.
A number of disturbing videos going viral on social media have a common factor, witnesses whipping out their phones, live recording the incidents and posting on social media, but not calling the police or stepping in to help the victim. Although these bystanders have a moral obligation to help, they are under no legal obligation to get involved.
While smartphone video recordings of crime are useful, they often time provide after-the-fact evidence. Moreover, in some cases, these recordings come too late, as victims might succumb to their injuries. Tragically, timely intervention from bystanders could have potentially prevented such outcomes.
The rise of digital voyeurism over active assistance is a concerning trend, were catching a crisis on camera for a few fleeting moments of ‘fame’ is way more important than actually doing something about it.
Physical involvement in the incident one is witnessing also means being ready to ‘assist the authorities’ with investigations which often time translates to sacrificing one’s time, making trips to the police station to make statements, and appearing as a witness in the courts of law.
All of which the potential helper would rather avoid. Add to this the physical risk to self, and it is easy to see why many individuals opt to record and share the incident than get involved.
The bystander effect, in which individuals are less likely to help someone in distress when they are in a group than when they are alone, because they assume someone else in the group will assume responsibility and step in, is another consideration.
Additionally, when everyone around you is doing nothing, it creates the impression that there is no need to intervene. The actions (or inactions) of others in the group influence an individual’s decision to intervene in emergencies such as assaults or accidents.
The citizen journalist is motivated by a desire to help, but without having to physically intervene or act.
“We don’t have a lot of data, but the hypothesis is that it is a way of people doing something,” Elizabeth Jellico a clinical psychologist and sexual violence prevention researcher and professor at New York’s John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
Desensitization is another aspect to take into account when looking at why citizen journalists would rather record than step in to help during illegal activity or an emergency. Frequent exposure to distressing content, as is the case today, has led to desensitization. The normalization of violence online has numbed a number of people to real-life incidents.
By Alfred Galandi
