Father saves son from furious mob

MSHADZA – A young man narrowly escaped a gruesome mob-justice attack when his father whisked him away and handed him over to the local police last week.

This was after a woman had called for help after finding the suspect in her house early on Saturday morning. The suspect had smashed a window to gain entrance into the house.

Upon hearing the woman’s screams, community members blew a whistle and within a few minutes a mob armed with stones and spades had gathered outside her house. The suspect, whom the residents said was one of the worst criminals in the village, managed to escape and fled to his house. The group of angry residents followed him.

Seeing that he was in danger, his father drove him straight to the police station. What angers the residents is that the woman chose not to open a housebreaking case after the incident because she knew the suspect and his family.

“The man has been terrorising the community for a long time, breaking into people’s houses and now this woman wants him to continue just because she knows him.

“This is absurd and we are going to hunt him down and free the community from his shackles.

“We are tired of watching helplessly as criminals get away with crime,” said an angry community member. Police confirmed the incident and said that there was nothing they could do because the woman had chosen not to open a case.

“Unfortunately there wasn’t any other case he was wanted for since none of the criminal cases the residents were talking about had been reported to us,” they said.