A little back story, for anyone who doesn't know: Tony Veitch was a TV/radio broadcaster until it was found out that, in 2006, he had reportedly beaten his then-partner till he broke her back, and then paid her $150,000 so she wouldn't tell anyone. When the public found out, there was outrage, resulting in Veitch leaving his job.
And the latest update is that he's tried to kill himself.
I think suicide is a cowardly thing to do, and a very selfish thing to do — it's giving up on life, saying you can't do it any more; and leaving every person you love or who loves you, with no regard at all for their feelings.
But in this case, the population of New Zealand must have contributed to it so heavily that Veitch just couldn't take it any more.
Don't get me wrong, I think it was a horrible thing to do; but it's between Veitch, his ex and the police. It's not the public's duty to lynch him. And remember, this was two years ago. Some people can change in two years. And his ex accepted the money he gave her; she felt that was compensation enough. That doesn't mean the police shouldn't get involved, but if she's happy, why shouldn't we be?
And now you, the New Zealand public, have hated this man to the extent he felt he had no option other than to leave this life. Yes, it was his choice, and it was cowardly and selfish; but you drove him to that point.
Well done, New Zealand. Good job at innocent-till-proven-guilty. Good job at bullying a guy to the point of suicide.
1 comment:
I think we could do without 95% of the news that is reported these days. So much isn't even news, and a lot of the rest is garbage. There's definitely an element of assumed guilt for anyone accused in most reporting, despite their hedging with words like "allegations" and "accused".
I guess at least it hasn't descended to the level they have in the US quite yet where reporters seem happy to just plain make shit up.
His ex sounds like a nasty piece of work really but then perhaps she was just messed up. Not that it makes her any less responsible for her actions, either.
It would be that much worse if he succeeded in killing himself and it turned out what she said wasn't true.
Who knows though? That's up to the courts to decide.
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