Rabat - An alleged thief died on Saturday evening after he got ‘street justice’ by an angry mob that lynched him on Friday in Hay Essourat, Casablanca.
On Friday, a video posted on YouTube went viral among social media users in Morocco. It shows a man with blood covering his face and deep wounds all over his body, while being encircled by residents.
The title of the video states the thief lost his eye during the mob attack. Multiple local media reports said the crowd beat the man brutally with a stick and smashed bricks on his head.
He was then taken to Mohammed V Hospital in Casablanca where he passed away on Saturday around 7:00 pm, local time.
This is not the first time a thief is killed by street justice in Morocco. Only last week, another alleged thief was beaten to death at a weekly market in Midelt, after he was caught stealing.
These incidents also evoke another mob attack that took place last month in Fez, where a homosexual man was brutally attacked by passersby downtown. Fortunately, a policeman intervened and threatened the multitude with his weapon, avoiding a tragedy.
These incidents outraged Moroccan social media users. They denounced through Facebook this rising pattern of mob attacks to seek justice, instead of reporting the incidents to the proper authorities.
Earlier this month, Morocco’s Head of Government Abdelilah Benkirane warned Moroccans against such acts. He stressed that government will show no tolerance towards people who encroach the prerogatives of the State and wish to do justice by themselves.
“No one has the right to be self-proclaimed as a judge or a substitute for justice,” he concluded during the weekly government meeting held on Thursday, July 2.
Edited by Karla Dieseldorff
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