The Police rescued a man from being lynched by an angry mob at Assin Yaw Attah in the Assin North District of the Central Region after he was accused of attempted murder of a cocoa farmer.
The man, believed to be in his early 20s, was accused of trespassing onto a cocoa farm and attempted to attack a farmer, identified only as Baba, 19, with a stick.
According to some residents, the farmer’s cries for help attracted scores of community members, who rushed to the scene.
The irate residents overpowered the man, tied him to a pole and subjected him to severe beatings in an apparent act of instant justice. The assault was only halted after an opinion leader intervened and appealed to the crowd to exercise restraint.
Personnel from the Assin Breku Police Station responded swiftly to the scene, rescued the man from the mob and conveyed him to the Assin Praso Presbyterian Hospital for treatment while investigations into the incident commenced.
Commenting on the incident, the Assin North District Police Commander, Superintendent Eric Yao Avudzi, strongly condemned the growing trend of mob justice in the district. He described the situation as alarming, noting that it was not the first time suspected offenders had been attacked by angry residents.
He recalled a previous incident in which a suspect was lynched by a mob, with the attackers allegedly attempting to set the body ablaze.
Superintendent Avudzi urged the public to refrain from taking the law into their own hands and instead report suspected criminal activities to the police for thorough investigations and prosecution.
He further disclosed that preliminary police investigations suggest the man may be living with a mental health condition. According to the District Commander, his responses during interrogation were inconsistent, lending credence to claims by some residents that he had been wandering within the community while exhibiting signs of mental illness.
Police have launched investigations to identify and arrest those involved in the assault while efforts are also underway to establish the man’s identity and trace his relatives.
