Update

From our friends at DR1.com:

Economist Eduardo Tejera, whose 15-year-old daughter was raped by a gang of five men on Friday, 27 August, said he expects those responsible to receive the full weight of the law. He questioned the fact that several of the accused had been released from custody on four previous occasions without having received any judicial penalties. Tejera said the country must rise up in wrath and indignation, not only because of the incident involving his daughter, but because last week 15 rapes were committed, and so far this year there have been 133, while most of the perpetrators of these crimes roam free. Tejera publicly denounced the rape of his daughter in indignation when medics told him of the many other cases that go uninvestigated because the parents choose to keep silent. Tejera's daughter, who was returning home from a disco accompanied by another youth, was taken by the men dressed in military garb when she arrived at her Avenida Anacaona high rise. Nineteen-year-old Natanael Gonzalez turned himself in yesterday, the fourth of five men sought in the attack. The police have located a house on 11 de Julio and Altagracia in San Carlos, where they found military garb and weapons used by the group, said to be part of the Banda Los King. Samuel King, the fifth member of the gang, remains on the loose.

Several TV and radio talk shows have been proposing that establishments frequented by youths close their doors earlier. For years now, adolescents and young adults have been visiting these late-night hotspots from 12am to 3am, arguing that nobody shows up before those hours. Zoila Luna, Adriano Miguel Tejada, Cesar Medina and Freddy Beras Goico have all addressed the matter on their respective programs. Beras Goico commented that in the US, such businesses close at 2am. Despite the fact that the DR's crime rate and incidence of violence is below the levels of Puerto Rico, Mexico and Colombia, the public figures asserted that the country must act now and not wait till things get worse.

Instead of proposing that the bars close early, why doesn't the police take action against the criminals so we can live in a crime-free environment? I mean, after all, we do have the right to have some fun, don't we? We spend our days at work, we should be able to go out and be social, have some fun with our friends, without our parents having to go through hell every night wondering what is happening to us on the streets. Or are we prisioners in our own land? Are we really going to allow crime to take over our lives?