"JUSTICE OF ANGRY CROWD"

Bagamoyo:

ANGRY CROWD BEATS ALLEGED THIEF

A man in his teens attempted to steal a mobile telephone at a shop in Bagamoyo but his plans failed and instead received a good beating by an angry crowd.

The young man, whose name or identity was not immediately known, visited the mobile phone shop and asked the shopkeeper to show him the mobile phone which wanted to buy. The phone was at the far end of the shop. And as the shopkeeper turned his back to fetch it, the young man fished out another phone from the front counter.

Unfortunate for the alleged thief and fortunate for the shopkeeper, a potential customer who was approaching the shop saw something “fishy” with the abrupt movement of the person. With a lightening speed he caught the hand of the alleged thief and alerted the shopkeeper by screaming “mwizi, mwizi” meaning “thief, thief”.

Within no time, a crowd of not less than one hundred people gathered, most of them visibly young people of almost the same age as the alleged thief. The angry crowd started showering blow after blow and some even landed forceful slaps on his cheeks. As the “people’s justice” continued for some minutes, a Militia man in plain clothes sprang into action and protected the young man, already terrified with the punishment. The Militia man succeeded in calming the onslaught actions of the angry crowd and instead whisked him away to the nearest police station.

The shopkeeper later stated that he declined to open the file of complain as there was no need to do so. He had already recovered his phone and the beatings was enough to teach him (the alleged thief) a good lesson!

Petty thefts involving bicycles, motor cycles, telephones and  ladies hand bags are rampant particularly in large towns and cities. A couple of weeks ago, a thief attempting to steal a motor cycle was caught red-handed and an angry crowd beat him to death. This incident took place just at the gate of the main Bagamoyo Bus Stand in the day time.

Story and Pics by Abdul Hai

 

An angry crowd surrounds the alleged thief who attempted to steal a mobile telephone from a shop near the busy market area.

The number of people started increasing as soon as they got news that a thief was caught attempting to steal a mobile phone from a shop close to the main market of Bagamoyo.