Man Accused of Theft Beaten to Death by Mob

A mob of people beat a man to death in Kandal province after a villager accused the man and an alleged accomplice of stealing a motorbike, police said.

Chin La, in his mid-20s, died after a crowd of people chased him down and then beat him in Ponhea Leu district’s Chhvang commune, commune police chief Khu Khin said.

“When we arrived there he was unconscious, so we sent him to the district health center, and he died there due to his serious wounds,” he said, adding that people in the area are fed up with thievery.

“If they find out about a robber, they will beat them up since they hate robbers and thieves,” he said.

Another accused thief, Or Sambat, 35, escaped the mob and was later arrested by police and placed in district police custody, deputy commune police chief Tun Vun said, adding that the suspect had confessed to multiple

“These two men robbed the people five times in this province without any weapon in their hands,” he said, adding that the men targeted only small women.

The two men were standing 1 km from the site of the beating when they allegedly grabbed a woman driving a motorbike and robbed her, he said.

The woman called her brother-in-law to warn him the thieves were heading his way, he said.

The motorcycle belonged to the brother-in-law and when he recognized it was coming near him he shouted “thief,” Mr Tun Vun said.

A crowded amassed and someone blocked the road with tree branches, he said.

The men then ran into a rice field, but the mob followed and caught Mr Chin La before attacking him, Mr Tun Vun said.

People in the area will not tell police who was involved in the killing, so police have not apprehended the culprits, Mr Tun Vun said.

“We can’t find who beat the man since there were a lot of people there at the time,” he said.

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