Meaning of Reprieve
cancellation or postponement of a punishment
synonyms: stay of execution · remission · pardon · amnesty · continuance
Recently I read in the newspaper that two minor boys in Ulhasnagar (Maharashtra) was paraded naked by shopkeepers after they caught the boys stealing food items from a shop. I was angry and shocked to see this type of brutality happen even in this generation. People stood and watched this happen instead of going and stopping this atrocious act from happening. They should have voiced out and stopped these stupid shopkeepers from committing such a crime. This is the link to this news clip.
Seeing that no one came to help, the mother of one of the kids gathered her strength to go and complain to the police, thank god the police did the right thing by not giving the shopkeepers Reprieve and arresting them immediately.
That is a sad story to here. While the boys may be in the wrong for stealing, they don’t deserve to have their dignity taken away like that. Maybe the shopkeeper reacted out of anger and was always the victim of stealing. Or maybe he was just a bit too harsh. Hope the police put the boys in their place and they boys learn their lesson. I do think the shopkeeper went too far and should have called the police straight away or just kept the boys in his shop until the police came. I suppose those who were watching didn’t want to interfere for fear of getting hurt or something unfortunate along those lines :/