THE Lay Magistrates’ Association of Jamaica (LMAJ) has joined several other organisations in condemning the rape and murder of 15-year-old Troy High School student Jamila Cole of Cotton Tree, Albert Town, Trelawny, on Sunday.

“This dastardly, abhorrent, repugnant, and despicable act of violence against Jamila is repulsive and brings into question the state of the nation’s mental well-being,” the LMAJ said in a press release.

“The LMAJ believes that this act of violence brings into stalk focus and memory the murder of five members of one family by the now convicted murderer Rushane Barrett, who also hailed from Trelawny [as well as] the brutal slaying of eight-year-old Braeton Primary School student Danielle Rowe, whose throat was slashed, and body thrown from a car and left for dead, also reminds us of where we have come as a society,” the organisation said.

It added: “The LMAJ and indeed all justices of the peace across our island grieve and empathise with the families, school, community and country and pledge our full support to all efforts aimed at cauterising violent actions against our women and our children.”