Angry Mob Delivers Brutal Beating To Handbag Thief

Story BySimon GloverSub EditorJoseph GolderAgencyAsia Wire Report

Video Credit: AsiaWire

This was the scene when an angry mob chased down a man who had allegedly stolen a woman’s handbag and gave him a brutal beating.

Eyewitnesses with smartphones filmed the group of about a dozen men repeatedly kick the man and hit him with chairs over the course of several minutes.

Police later praised the gang for apprehending the man but warned them not to go too far in administering what they described as “street justice”.

Pictures Credit: AsiaWire

The man reportedly snatched the handbag from a woman as she ate breakfast at a coffee shop in the city of Kuching in the Malaysian state of Sarawak on the island of Borneo.

He tried to flee the scene on a motorcycle but his victim gave chase and tried to pull the handbag from his grasp.

This caused the motorcyclist to lose control and crash into a car. Both the alleged thief and his victim fell to the ground, the woman suffering minor injuries to her hands and legs.

The alleged thief was immediately pounced on by a group of men who had witnessed the incident.

Smartphone footage, later shared widely online, shows them administering a brutal beating. The man tries to escape a number of times but is recaptured each time.

Eventually, his attackers restrained his arms and legs with his own belt and t-shirt before handing him over to the cops.

Police Chief Awang Din Awang Gani warned members of the public they were entitled to use only minimal force in apprehending suspected criminals.

He said: “We praise the effort of the public in arresting the suspect in this case. However, the public should not go overboard when serving street justice.”

The suspect, a local man whose name has not been released, faces robbery charges. He reportedly has a criminal record for robbery and drug offences.

If found guilty in court, he could face up to 14 years in prison, as well as being subject to a fine or a flogging.

The handbag, which contained the woman’s personal documents, her mobile phone and some cash, was recovered at the scene and returned to her.

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