Suspected thief killed by mob in Mwingi town

A suspected thief was lynched by a mob in Mwingi town Tuesday, following a botched robbery at a retail shop in the town.
Two other suspects escaped unhurt even as the irate residents launched a manhunt for them.
The victim, in his 30s was described by the residents as a notorious burglar, who alongside his gang had been terrorizing businessmen and residents in Mwingi town by breaking into their business premises and houses at night.
The residents decried rising cases of insecurity marked by shop and home break-ins, which had hit the town especially during on-going curfew due to covid-19 pandemic. The residents are now appealing to the police to beef up security in the town.
Mwingi Central Police Commander Peter Mutuma assured the residents that police would be on high alert to curb crime incidences even as he called on residents not to take law into their own hands.
According to a night guard at a nearby shop, he spotted the deceased in the company of two others as they were trying to break into nearby shop at around 5’00 in the morning.
The night guard raised alarm and the three escaped. However, the deceased jumped over a perimeter fenced and entered into a nearby plot, where he was cornered by irate members of public, responding to the alarm.
“We received information that a suspected thief was being lynched by a mob at a residential area in town and our officers rushed to the scene,” said the police boss, adding that on arrival to the scene they found the victim bleeding profusely, with injuries all over the body.
The security officers rushed him to Mwingi level four hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival at the facility.
The incident brings to three the number of people murdered in Mwingi town this month.
Last week, a mechanic was stabbed to death outside his house by unknown people, while the body of another resident was founded dumped at a river in the outskirts of Mwingi town two weeks ago.
By Denson Mututo