Man escapes mob justice in Lilongwe after being caught stealing

A young man in his thirties, Wednesday afternoon, escaped the wrath of a mob when he was caught by an angry crowd removing a rear mirror of a car whose owner parked at Action Hardware, close to Mahomed Arcade in the heart of Lilongwe City, Old Town.

The incident, witnessed by this reporter, started as a simple issue when one vendor on the scene alerted his friends to look in the direction where the alleged thief was busy removing a rear view mirror from a car. As he finished removing the mirror, three vendors descended on him asking him what he was doing by removing the mirror.

The man failed to justify his action and within seconds the place filled up with vendors and other passers-by interested to see what was happening.

Immediately some people passed judgment on him shouting: “beat him, kill him.”

Spontaneously some people picked up stones, others sticks and started beating the alleged thief.

Within minutes the man fell down, and it is when good Samaritans started getting worried looking at the way they were beating him and reported the matter to the nearby armed police officers who were less than a hundred meters away.

The officers rushed to the scene and rescued him from the angry mob and led him away for questioning and for his security.

Monica Mmanga, working for the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation who was also on the scene when this was happening appreciated police immediate action.

She said: “This place is full of such people who are always looking for an opportunity to steal and they even break or unlock people’s cars especially during such festive seasons like this.”

She confessed that her own car was unlocked last year where they stole a number of items which were in the car.

Police patrols, which many people say are helping in curbing crime, have tremendously been increased because of numerous complaints of increased crime.

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