In the Philippines a 35 year-old man, Romeo Vargas Tambo-boy Sr, jumped into a well 13 feet deep with his 9 month-old son and hid in the well with the child for 16 hours. The rescued child is in the hospital. The police are going to charge Tambo-boy with child abuse. I don’t think they should, which may sound illogical to you, and you may be right.

I say the police shouldn’t charge Tambo-boy because he had gone a little crazy. I don’t think he meant any harm to the child, or was cognizant of any harm.

Why?

He had lost his wife recently. She died giving birth. According to Tambo-boy’s family, he hadn’t accepted her death and had been acted strange. When the police arrested him, he kept blinking and couldn’t answer questions. I say Tambo-boy’s grief has driven him temporarily mad, and he’s not accountable for his unnatural behavior of hiding in an abandoned well with his child. Clearly not the behavior of a sane man.

Rather than arrest him, get him psychological help and grief counseling. Don’t punish him. He’s lost his wife. His heart and mind are hurt and broken. Get this grief stricken man help.