As the crowd swings kicks and punches at the young Tanzanian, he covers his head and tries to escape from the angry crowd screaming that he is a thief. The throng swells, attracted by the shouts, but he somehow manages to slip away between the second-hand shoe stalls and disappears, fleeing for his life. He is one of the lucky ones. Every day brings new tales of suspected robbers being lynched by crowds in Tanzania, one of the world’s poorest countries, where more than half the population lives on less than US$1 a day. Suspects are often hacked with machetes before being “necklaced” with old tyres soaked in petrol and set alight to the cheers of bystanders. “Everyone knows who the thieves are, so when we catch them they get exactly what they deserve,” said Abdul, who sells clothes on a busy street corner in the centre of Dar es Salaam. Sometimes the mobs claim innocent victims in their passion and haste to make an example of criminals. Full Story
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