The nation is mourning 75-year-old Tara Bridgemohan, who was discovered bound, gagged, and murdered in her bedroom in South Barrackpore recently. There have been hundreds of reports fitting the profile of home invasions, some with deadly outcomes.
I understand that the TTPS does not track “home invasion” as a standalone legal offence. Instead, these crimes are officially recorded under categories like robberies, burglaries, and break-ins. Official TTPS figures (via Crime and Problem Analysis Branch): Recorded 535 break-ins/burglaries for the year 2024, and 293 reports over the same period for 2025. In response to the surge in incidents, the state proclaimed the Home Invasion (Self-Defence and Defence of Property) Act into law, allowing the use of reasonable—and in some cases deadly—force against intruders.
At the heart of the crime problem is a failure by many to recognise the sacredness of human life. When the fundamental worth of every person is ignored, actions like violence, exploitation, and theft naturally follow. True societal transformation begins only when love, compassion, empathy, and basic respect are restored.
The Catholic Church teaches that human life is sacred, and the dignity of the human person is the foundation of a moral vision for society. The permanent character of my dignity is essentially linked to the dignity of others. We are connected.
Our dignity is connected. If their dignity is trampled upon, mine becomes tarnished. The Second Vatican Council’s document, The Church in the Modern World (27 Gaudium et Spes) reminds us that “Whatever insults human dignity… are infamies indeed.”
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights recognises that the inherent dignity and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world. The international Covenants on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and on Civil and Political Rights state that all human rights derive from inherent dignity of the human person.
Human dignity is enshrined in the Preamble of T&T’s Republican Constitution. Our nation is founded upon principles that acknowledge “the dignity of the human person and the equal and inalienable rights with which all members of the human family are endowed by their Creator”. This preamble serves as the foundational philosophy behind the fundamental human rights and freedoms protected in Sections 4 and 5 of our Constitution.
On April 8, 2024, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith released the “Declaration ‘Infinite Dignity’ on Human Dignity.”
The 20-page document, approved by Pope Francis, was developed over five years and categorises grave violations of human dignity. The concept that human dignity is inherent, inviolable, and inalienable is woven throughout the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC):
Inherent Dignity (Created in God’s Image): Paragraph 369 and Paragraph 1700 state that human dignity is rooted in being created in the “image and likeness of God”. Because human worth comes directly from the Creator, it is inherent and does not depend on human accomplishments or societal status.
Inalienable Dignity (Cannot be Taken Away): Paragraph 369 explicitly declares that men and women possess an “inalienable dignity” that comes to them immediately from God. Paragraph 1738 reinforces that the natural right to exercise freedom is an “inalienable requirement of the dignity of the human person”.
Inviolable Rights (Must be Respected and Protected): Paragraphs 1930 and 2273 state that basic human rights—with the right to life being the most fundamental—are inherent to human nature. They do not depend on the state, society, or parents, making them inviolable and universally binding.
Inter alia, the Declaration addresses various contemporary issues where human dignity is undermined, including poverty, migration, violence against women, human trafficking, war, subhuman living conditions, arbitrary imprisonment, deportation, slavery, prostitution, the selling of women and children, degrading working conditions where individuals are treated as mere tools for profit rather than free and responsible persons.
The Declaration urges society and legal systems to place the respect for human dignity at the center of their commitment to the common good, transcending all circumstances. If we are to restore human dignity, we must protect human rights and meet our responsibilities. Yes, corresponding to our rights are duties and responsibilities - to ourselves, to one another, to our families, to the wider society, and to our environment.
In his encyclical, Fratelli Tutti, on fraternity and social friendship, Pope Francis outlines how defending human dignity is fundamental to building a just, peaceful, and authentically human society, regardless of anyone’s physical, social, or moral standing.
Let’s play our part to defend/promote the dignity of all human beings.
