Man caught in Poly female hostels, gets instant mob justice
A man in the mid 20’s suspected to be a thief was caught on Tuesday in the female hostels of the the Polytechnic, a constituent college of the University of Malawi, and received “mob justice.”
The suspected thief is said to have gone to the Kapeni hostel at around six in the morning of 14 August 2012.
According to a Group 4 Security guard, the man got into room 333 where he stole two phones and a laptop. But when the girls in the hostel screamed for help, he dropped the laptop and started to run away.
The guards run after him and he was caught near the college’s cafeteria.
Asked why he was found at the hostel, the man claimed he was selling some stuff but he never mentioned them. This angered the students who beat him at the spot and then he was taken to the highway where the beating continued.
“The man was caught, beaten and badly injured,” a student who witnessed the mob justice told Nyasa Times.
His presence at highway disrupted the traffic to the extent of car diversions. The police came nearly an hour after he was caught.
One mobile phone recovered from the thief was given back to the owner .
The development comes after robbers armed with panga knives attacked the female hoste last Wednesday night.
Southern Region Police Spokesperson Nicholas Gondwa said the armed gang force-opened six rooms of the students and stole a laptop, six mobile phones and K10 000 cash, among other gadgets.
Police say the robbers also injured a fourth year student, Robert Mazoe, 24, in the boys’ hostel
Gondwa said “investigations are currently underway”.
