Khyra Ishaq.

Khyra Ishaq, seven, starved to death. Angela Gordon and Junaid Abuhamza jailed for fifteen years and indefinitely. Diminished responsibility. Birmingham, UK, 2010. Social Services are criticized in serious case review. ‘It could have been prevented.’ Is it me or that ‘fucking obvious!’ The SS could have stormed the place with police protection, broken the door down, wrestled the mother refusing entry to the ground, pinned the Muslim to the wall and snatched the child. Khyra would be alive and thus the SS would be criticized for heavy-handed brutality. A family is an insulated micro society. It may meet the outside world on its terms but once the door is closed… And it’s hard to imagine the difference between the two, especially in extreme cases like this. How can one run one’s own kids to school and kiss them goodbye and imagine parents who are systematically brutalising and starving their children? How can one penetrate with gentility the fierce threshold of this brutish enclave? Even Khyra’s birth father closed ranks and blamed the SS, conveniently overlooking his own capacity to do something. Maybe even Gordon and Abuhamza are bemoaning in their cells that ‘they could have done something to stop us.’ One thing for sure rings true. ‘Diminished responsibility.’ No one in her own family was taking responsibility for the well being of this beautiful seven year old. Britain’s long history is built on responsibility as in, “England expects that every man will do his duty.” This expectation is thus transferred to the social workers, teachers and police. In the years ahead funding for all the social services will be slashed to a fraction of what it is now. The question. Will this result in the deaths of many more Khyra Ishaqs or families like hers recognising that without this social support they must take on their own responsibility?