SESHEGO – A MAN is slowly recovering from serious injuries in the Seshego Hospital after he was recently attacked by an angry mob who accused him and two friends of mugging a college student at knifepoint.
His friends were able to escape the raging mob.
The man, who will appear before the Seshego Magistrate’s court once he is discharged from hospital, is in his early 30’s and will be charged with common robbery.
The incident occurred at Third House, Seshego zone 2, and the injured man is from New Town Section in Seshego zone 3. He allegedly robbed the student of two mobile phones and R150 cash.
Express witnessed the mob’s chase after the robbers and saw them catch the victim.
He was asked to hand over the phones and the cash but refused.
The mob started bludgeoning him with an assortment of weapons including steel rods, sticks and stones. The angry residents said they were forced to take the law into their own hands because these criminals were terrorising them.
“We refuse to be held to ransom by these criminals while the police fail to protect us. Every now and then our houses are broken into and valuable things are stolen.
“We will continue to discipline criminals as a deterrent to would-be criminals,” one resident said, as others agreed.
Seshego police spokesperson, WO Mothemane Malefo, condemned the incident, saying people should not take the law into their own hands.
“We always discourage people from taking the law into their own hands because it is illegal. By killing a suspected criminal, they are marring the investigation into the case. People should know that by killing a suspected criminal they could end up in jail themselves,” Malefo said.
The incident followed a series of mob justice episodes over the past few weeks, at Luthuli Park, Extension 44 and Seshego zone 3.
In one of these recent incidents, a Seshego man was killed by a raging mob in Lebowakgomo where they claimed he had been caught red-handed while robbing a house. Several video clips of these incidents had also gone viral by the time of going to print.
