In Nacala-Porto, three young men beat another young man to death and the locals burn one of them to death

A group of three young men beat a young man, who was considered innocent and accused of being a thief, to death in the Mathapue neighborhood, Nacala district, Nampula province, northern Mozambique.

In this context, the situation infuriated the residents and they took one of the three young men and burned him to death, in the early hours of this Friday (21).

The first act that constituted justice by one's own hands occurred near the Idrissa Market, where the young man was mistaken for a criminal.

In response, the residents acted furiously and the three perpetrators were neutralized.

One of the three young men had his house destroyed and then set on fire, and as if that were not enough, they beat him and burned him to death in broad daylight.

Some witnesses who were interviewed reported how it all happened: "A young man is being lynched, he killed another young man and the population reacted. In order to be lynched, he and his two friends mistook a young man from this area for a thief and beat him to death because they said he was stealing from their home, which is not true. The police came and rescued one of the three and while handcuffed, he escaped, jumped over two walls while handcuffed, but luck didn't catch up with him and he was lynched”.

 “As for his behavior, I can't confirm it because we grew up together, but the attitude he had been showing was negative, because he was a thief.", he added.

"The young man who was killed by three individuals was an innocent man, because he was a tax collector. As for this lynched citizen, he was a drug user and injected himself. He was a thief, perhaps that was the reason that led them to kill the innocent man along with his friends. Right now he is burning but still alive." 

It is important to remember that until the Mozanorte team was removed from the lynching site, the police had not been present, because in the first episode of the destruction and burning of the house of the young man, the alleged lynched thief, the population was intimidated and promised to set fire to the police car. (Gabriel Cassimo)