A man was rescued by police officials after Laare community members in Meru County gathered to beat him after he was allegedly implicated in an attempted motorcycle robbery.
Speaking to Baite Tv, Emmanuel Ogada, Igembe North Sub County Commander, said that police officers removed the man from the angry community at about 11:45 AM.
“We rescued him and took him into custody, where he is currently awaiting his arraignment in court. I strongly urge the public to refrain from subjecting suspects to mob justice because they have not been proven guilty. The police have made their phone numbers available, and they can be reached at those numbers,” said Ogada.
According to the victim, he was on his way back from Mutauati when he was ambushed by seven men on two motorcycles. He said they demanded Ksh 2000 from him, and when he refused, they grabbed his motorcycle and began shaking it violently.
“The passengers on my motorcycle began screaming and fled for safety. One of the suspects stabbed me in the back, and another attempted to stab me in the head but missed because I had a cap. I was able to identify one of the suspects. I saw him walking down the street today and alerted my accomplice, who pursued him. The suspect pulled out a knife and attempted to stab him,” he said.
According to Kinoti, the victim approached him the night he was stabbed and he took him to the hospital. He said the police should question the suspect and demand that he names all of his associates and reveal the location of the stolen motorcycles.
The suspect claimed that he was subjected to mob justice after going to check on what was going on after hearing loud screams.
“I was walking down a road around 8:00 p.m. when I came across the victim and several men on motorcycles arguing. It was said that the men were customers who had approached the victim to purchase his motorcycle. They began arguing after they were unable to reach an agreement on the price,” he said.
“When the victim began to scream, the men vanished, leaving me alone with the victim. He recognized me because I wasn’t wearing a mask,” he said.
He claimed that he could only identify one person from the mob.
