Just weeks after a baby was found dead inside a bus in Wainibokasi, yet another discovery was made in Savusavu early Thursday morning.

Town council workers found the baby wrapped in a sarong.  A photo of the dead baby has gone viral on social media forcing Police to issue a statement seeking Facebook users not to share the photo online.

Police are still searching for the mothers of the babies.

There was outrage by readers who posted comments after the two stories were put up on the Fiji Sun Online Facebook page.

It is easy to blame the mothers for these tragic events.

But are we looking at a deeper and more serious problem than just two simple cases of infanticide.

Killing a new born child is abominable.

It is unthinkable that two innocent lives were terminated by their mothers who were  obviously going through  some kind of serious psychological trauma.

The question that need to be asked is what drove these two women to commit this heinous crime.

Are they victims of social pressures where they would rather kill their newborns than face humiliation by their peers and families for having babies outside of wedlock? Or are they simply just mentally deranged?

The other question is a moral one. Is it the onslaught of the digital revolution with young people left unsupervised to view whatever they wish on the world wide web?

Or is it the lack of teaching on the home front? Could it be the lack of moral direction and integrity?

And who is responsible for passing on these life lessons about morality and integrity?

Parents?  Teachers?  Government?  Guardians?  Church leaders? Religious leaders? Traditional leaders? Brothers? Friends?

It is often quoted that “A civilisation is measured about how it treats its weakest members.”

But while it’s easy to solely point the finger at the two mothers and how they have allowed themselves to commit such atrocity, other factors must also be considered.

Was there support and love when news of their pregnancies was known?

Or was there a constant barrage of verbal abuse levelled at the mothers, that getting rid of their babies was the answer?

Was there pressure from the fathers and families of the babies they bore? What was the advice of friends and close friends?

A holistic approach is necessary when addressing such issues.

This is not to say that such acts should be accepted, in fact such inhumane acts must never be tolerated.  It should never be part of any society.

If such acts points us for our moral failure, as a nation we certainly need to get our act together for the sake of our future generation.

Feedback:  rosi.doviverata@fijisun.com.fj