Masked gang attack epileptic man

A County Tyrone woman whose son was beaten by masked men armed with iron bars has said she does not know why he was targeted.

The woman, who does not want to be identified, said he was too afraid to return to his house in the Carlton Drive area of Strabane.

The 25-year-old victim suffers from two types of epilepsy.

"They could've killed him. I don't know how anybody can inflict this kind of pain on someone else," she said.

The incident took place at about 2100 BST on Friday. The man was taken to hospital for treatment to injuries to his arms and legs. Police have appealed for witnesses to contact them.

source : news.bbc.co.uk





This world is becoming more and more unsafe to live in. I know crimes are inevitable and happen everywhere. Two months ago, I witnessed a massive group of protesters holding banners and shouting slogans right in the middle of a busy cross road section in Melbourne, Australia. Onlookers had a fright of their lives. I was frightened beyond words. I stood at a far distance to witness the crowd. Traffic from four sides of the roads came to a halt and standstill. Motorists abandoned their vehicles and passengers in trams scrammed for their safety. Police cars and personnels were seen everywhere trying to control the fuming crowd of protesters.

A group of four Sri Lankan men were standing beside me. I asked them if they know what the protest was about. Apparently, the issue was about the rapid rise in the rate of Asians being attacked by locals. The crowd had demanded to see and talk to the Mayor face to face. They wanted the Mayor to accept their memorandum consisting of steps and actions to be taken by the police to restore safety of Asians living there.

A week after the protest, The Star, a leading paper in Malaysia reported the protest held in Melbourne. Two weeks ago, my hubby emailed me from Guangzhou telling me he had read in the local newspaper of more similar protests held in Melbourne and Sydney. My hubby was very concerned about our safety in Melbourne.

One Sri Lankan man told me that his friend had been beaten and clobbered to death because he did not have spare change to give to a group of locals when confronted. Another Sri Lankan man told me that an Indian university student was being beaten mercilessly for not having a cigarette lighter to help light the cigarettes of some locals. The Indian student was sent to a nearest hospital in a comatized condition. The troubled and concerned Sri Lankan men advised me not to be out on the streets too late at night or to be in a midnight tram because of safety reasons.

How safe can I be? Does anyone know? I certainly do not know but the thought of being robbed, attacked and/or raped during a seizure sends chills down my spine. I once read in The Star paper that a grandpa of 76 years old was caught raping his teenage granddaughter who had multiple slerocis and cerebral palsy. Upon further questioning, the convicted grandpa confessed he had been raping his teenage granddaughter for close to ten years. His teenage granddaughter also had two abortions as a result of his raping.

Awareness about the sentiments and predicaments of people with disabilities (wheelchair bound, downs syndrome, parkinsons, alzheimer, cerebral palsy, learning disabled, mental retardation, autistic, etc) and people with epilepsy is so important in our society. It is with knowledge that acceptance will follow. Invoking understanding, loving and caring attitudes in people is a crucial role not only cut out for an epilepsy activist like me but rather it is everyone's duty to do it for the sake of their loved ones, friends and relatives.


Please join me in my activist role and help make this world a better and safer place for everyone to live in.