Everson Luhanga
Police officers received an anonymous call to help young people being beaten up by a mob who accused them of being robbers.
The beaten youths lay helpless in the street, bleeding and begging for mercy from the people they had allegedly robbed. Residents would not listen. Instead, they insisted on “marinating” them.
When police arrived in two vans, they were chased away from the scene. Angry residents wouldn’t allow police to see the young men being kicked, sjambokked, stoned, and slapped.
The two police vans reversed and drove off.
The police’s second attempt to rescue the men was again met by defiant angry residents who chased them away, telling them that they had failed the community and the community would deal with criminals their way.
An ambulance arrived but the driver was also chased away.
The suspects were beaten, had tyres placed around their necks and doused with petrol. But just before the match was lit, police arrived with backup to rescue them. The suspects were whisked to the police station where they were locked up. One of them didn’t make it.
The drama started at 3am on Thursday when residents apprehended a suspected member of the Avanza gang, so named because they use a local taxi to rob people. The gang was accused of house burglaries and shooting at a woman.
The driver was beaten from 3am until around 6am. The residents forced the driver to point out his friend’s house – and he was fetched and beaten too.
The alleged robbers were undressed, what smelled like petrol was poured over them and tyres were put around their necks.
They were rescued by the police just before the match was struck. The police had called for backup and came in numbers to rescue the men.
Meanwhile two young men accused of stealing car batteries were apprehended by the mob and beaten, kicked and stoned. And a fifth youngster, who had allegedly stolen a cell phone just after dawn, got the same treatment from the residents.
The police scooped up all five and locked them in the cells. But for one of the alleged Avanza gang members, it was too late. He died in front of his friends from the injuries sustained during the beating.
Community leader Vincent Ndima, who was called to calm the situation, told Scrolla.Africa that lack of resources at the Alexandra police station has led to residents taking the law into their own hands.
“The police response is dismal because we have found out that there are no resources at the station. We need the provincial police to assist the station with manpower as well as vehicles,” he said.
