By ANEEKA SIMONIS
THE daughter of a rape, murder victim has put her full support behind a bold new Coalition Bill taking the power away from convicted killers.
Last week, the State Opposition unveiled proposed new laws that would prevent convicted killers from receiving parole if they refuse to reveal the location of the body of the victims.
Cranbourne woman Janine Greening heads the Victoria Homicide Victims Support Group’s Forget Me Not Foundation – set on supporting those left behind in murder, homicide and missing persons’ cases.
Some were adults when they went missing, others thought to have vanished due to foul play were children – but all leave behind a web of tragically torn friends and family left forever wondering.
“I can only imagine what a nightmare that would be. Every one of us would like to have the body of our loved one to put them to rest in a place we know,” Ms Greening said.
“These people are all stuck at that point in time when their loved on last went out the door.
“It’s horrific to think killers can have that power over them.”
Ms Greening’s mother, Marie Greening Zidan, 70, was sexually assaulted and killed by two minors in her Seaford home in 2000.
Her intellectually disabled son cowered in terror in the corner of the room as the killers, then aged 15 and 16, took the great-grandmother’s life.
Ms Greening was down the street as the horror unfolded.
But horror does not begin to describe the 15-year ordeal she has been through – though Ms Greening said it would have undoubtedly been worse if her mother’s body was taken.
“Of course it would have been (harder). Murder is murder. But to not have the body and be able to bury it … that would be horrific.
“It is very important to have the body and have a place to grieve. To be denied that, it’s horrific.”
Shadow Minister for Community Safety, Corrections and Police Edward O’Donohue introduced a Private Member’s Bill into the Legislative Council on Wednesday 24 February.
“Families have a right to bury their loved ones and they should decide the resting place, not convicted killers,” he said.
“The Liberal Nationals Coalition believes that the rights of victims and their loved ones should be at the heart of the justice system and that criminals should be held to account for their crimes.”
The early parole conditions also relate to convicted killers withholding other forms of critical information in a murder or homicide case.
