A middle-aged man was on Saturday morning beaten and left nursing serious injuries after an attempt to snatch a handbag from a lady within the Nakuru main business park was thwarted.
The early morning incident at the Nacho Square within Nakuru’s town centre has been strongly condemned by Central OCPD Benard Kioko who accused the general public of taking the law into their own hands.
According to eyewitnesses, the young man snatched a bag but was nabbed as he tried to run away after the lady cried for help.
“He was not able to make a step due to the large number of people making way into the stage in the morning,” noted Charles Kinyanjui, adding that he was lucky not to set ablaze because the mob wanted to see him dead.
“Police came at the right time because any delay could have seen the thief burnt to death to serve as a lesson to others,” Moses Mburu said.
Kioko, who led the rescue team, noted that it was wrong to inflict injuries to anybody because the law was very clear on the procedure to follow when handling such crime.
“What if the young man died, who could have taken responsibility?” he asked, adding that mob justice was crime in itself.
The body was ferried to the Rift Valley County hospital with young people being cautioned against engaging in criminal activities.