Lynch mobs on the rise

[NewsWhore]

Cases of lynching and other types of aggressive mob behavior have increased recently, to the detriment of alleged thieves and muggers. As the government tries to reduce the crime rate through restrictions on liquor sales and distribution, and random searches, there is an increased incidence of mob violence directed at suspected criminals. Several recent cases testify to the fact that citizens are taking the law into their own hands. On Saturday, in the El Alamo sector of Manoguaybo, two people were stabbed and shot after allegedly assaulting a "motoconchista" (motorcycle taxi driver) in an attempt to steal his motorcycle. The incident occurred at 10:00 in the morning when two men mounted the cycle and one of them stabbed the driver, who was then taken to the local hospital by his workmates. Onlookers and other motoconcho drivers caught one of the two individuals and only police intervention prevented him from being beaten to death. A similar situation developed in the San Juan Bosco area of Santo Domingo, when Joel Santos and another person were riding a motorcycle, and swiped a pocketbook from a woman driving an SUV. The robbers fled, but the woman took off after them, and rammed the motorcycle near La Esperilla Street. Bystanders, including some local taxi drivers surrounded the thief and one of them shot him. His accomplice managed to escape on the cycle. Last Wednesday, a man who had stolen a cell phone and RD$2,000 from a woman was lynched by a mob in Las Caobas. At the motoconcho stop at El Alamo, one driver was heard saying: "You have to kill them, because later on they say there was no proof, that they have to let them go because of the new (penal) code."

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