17 Year Old Suspected Thief Escapes Lynching

In yet another case of lynching of suspected criminals in the Ashanti Region, a 17 year old suspected thief Monday narrowly escaped being killed after a Good Samaritan rescued him from an angry mob at Apatrapa in the Atwima Nwabiagya District. The suspect, Kofi Osei, is believed to be a member of a gang of three who stormed a house to steal. The resident, who claims to be the victim of the alleged stealing, told Ultimate Radio�s Joseph Oppong Brenya he heard some guys knocking his main gate apparently to check whether anyone was at home. �I kept silent and later I saw them scale the wall into the house. They jumped into the room where I was. When I started struggling with them, they hit me in the head and rib with an axe and tried to escape. But I started screaming and called the neighbors who rushed there� he recounted. He said two of them however escaped as luck eluded Kofi Osei who was overpowered by the residents in a fierce struggle. He was pulled off the wall in a desperate attempt to escape arrest. His rescuer told Ultimate Radio but for his timely intervention, the suspect would have been killed after he was subjected to severe beatings which rendered him weak. Describing his rescue expedition to Ultimate Radio, he said, �I saw him being beaten mercilessly and when I inquired I was told he was a thief. But I intervened and told the mob they couldn�t do that since it was against the law. And moreover I asked them to show me what he had stolen but nobody could do that. In my attempt to save him, I was even beaten in the process. I told myself I will protect him till he gets to the police.� The suspect was subsequently delivered to the Abuakwa police under whose jurisdiction the incident happened. The Police are holding him pending investigations after he was treated at the Abuakwa Hospital, together with the theft victim who also sustained injuries. In the last month, Ultimate Radio has reported of three lynching incidents in the Kumasi Metropolis.