‘Mob justice’: Robber beaten to death, brother injured

Brothers caught in their attempt to snatch a woman’s purse

KARACHI: A young man, who allegedly tried to rob a woman, was killed by a mob in Orangi Town on Sunday morning while his brother was injured.

The police found the two men, one believed to be in his early 20s and the other a teenager, in a pool of blood. “We reached the site after someone informed us at the police helpline about a crowd of people who were torturing the two robbers in Orangi Town,” explained Orangi Town SHO Khan Muhammad Shaikh, adding that it was very difficult for them to rescue the brothers as the mob was enraged and wanted to kill them.



More policemen had to be called in to disperse the enraged mob and rescue the robbers, after which the brothers were taken into custody. The brothers, who were in a critical condition, were shifted to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for treatment. However, one of them, identified as Fahad Ali alias Muhammad Ali, later succumbed to his injuries during treatment at the hospital, said a police official, who added that his brother was identified as Talha Ali.

Talha confessed to the crime but defended himself by saying that he did not know that his brother intended to rob a purse from the woman, informed Shaikh.

Meanwhile, the woman whose purse the brothers had attempted to snatch has disappeared since the incident occurred and a search for her by the police is under way.

Police officials said that they will also register a case against those who took the law into their own hands by beating, killing and injuring the robbers. Further investigations are underway.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 12^th, 2016.