EDITORIAL: Big bravery in a small frame
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Updated: October 20, 2009 4:13 PM
Since the murder of her son two years ago this week, Eileen Mohan has struggled to keep her weight hovering near 95 pounds.
The small-framed 47-year-old woman has always been trim, but she usually tipped the scales at 115 pounds – a number that has at times over the last 24 months plunged dangerously into the 80s.
Mohan has had difficulty eating since her 22-year-old son Chris was gunned down in the “Surrey Six” slayings in October, 2007 – so deep is her grief.
But don’t let Mohan’s tiny physique fool you. This lady packs a punch – a fact she proved again on Friday, when she and her husband Sunil launched their own lawsuit against those she holds responsible for Christopher’s murder.
Several lawyers, Mohan says, refused to take on her case for fear of gang retaliation. Those who did express some interest insisted on a substantial retainer, as much as $250,000.
This is appalling. What’s next? Prosecutors too nervous to approve charges? Police officers afraid to testify in court? Judges too scared to implement sentences?
Mohan has showed incredible courage in the face of a terrifying crime. She refused to move from her home at Balmoral Towers, where six people were killed in cold blood, angrily declaring that gangsters had come to her doorstep and she would not be intimidated.
The rising level of gang violence in the Lower Mainland has certainly shaken the sense of security for everyone. But society must summon the fortitude to fight back – especially those who serve in the justice system.
As Eileen Mohan demonstrates, that’s no small thing.
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