Saturday, 27 March 2010

Frenzied Cambodian mob kills motorcycle thieves with bamboo sticks

Picture by DAP (Deum Ampil News)

Angry Cambodian villagers attack three alleged bandits

http://www.metro.co.uk/


via CAAI News Media

A furious village mob beat to death two suspected motorcycle robbers with bamboo sticks after dragging them away from terrified police.

The men were among three being held for allegedly stealing a motorcycle from two sisters, who were riding it when attackers hit them over the head with pistols.

The women were in a critical condition in hospital in the district of Dangkor.

The group of about 400 villagers was so out of control that police got scared, police chief Maj. Bonn Sam Ath admitted.

He said: "The villagers threatened to attack us if we refused to hand over the suspects to them.

"We had no choice. They would have beaten us too if we protected the suspects."

Word spread through the village that police had detained suspects, prompting a crowd led by relatives of the victims to await their arrival near the police station, said Bonn Sam Ath, adding that police initially tried to protect the suspects.

The third suspected robber survived by pretending he was dead, he said. Police do not plan to press charges because they do not know which members of the mob were responsible for the murders, he added.

Mob killings are not uncommon in rural Cambodia, where police are often seen as corrupt and villagers take justice into their own hands.

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