So do you all remember how I've talked about mob justice in the past? The cultural concept here where it's okay for the public to take justice into their own hands? Well, I finally saw the results of it.
Last night I stayed in Kisumu town with my friend Tosha at her house in Dunga. Apparently two robbers tried to break into the house next door to ours. My window was open and facing the house, but I actually slept through the whole commotion that followed! The woman who lives there woke up and heard noises, so she made a big to-do and all the neighbors were drawn over to the house to see what was up. The dogs in our yard were also barking their heads off for a while. The crowd saw the 2 robbers who tried to run away, and they made chase after them down the road. The next two hours were a game of hide-and-seek and find-the-robbers, and eventually they did find one of them! They started beating him as they interrogated him, and found out the name of the other robber. Apparently the guys were from across town, but they work in Dunga as firshermen, so everybody knew who they were. The mob were beating and beating this guy, but he wasn't dying because he'd prepared in case he was caught. He wore several layers of clothing to protect himself from a beating. So they poured parrafin on him and lit him on fire. He ran screaming into a nearby field and then fell over, and the mob put a tire on top of him and lit the tire. Rubber will burn FOREVER, so he burned to death lying there, and the tire was still burning by the time I woke up at 8am this morning.
Tosha told me the story and we threw on clothing and ran over to the scene just down the road. Half of Dunga was out there watching, and the fire department had just come and put out the still flaming body. I pushed my way to the front of the crowd just in time to see the body, charred and still smoking, being picked up and put in the back of a truck which was acting as a make-shift ambulance. It was DISGUSTING. It looked like something from a horror film. And the bicycle the guy had tried to run away on was also burned and crumpled next to him. There was just this big, black, burned out part of the field with a destroyed bicycle in it. SO CRAZY.
As soon as they took the body away, the crowd dispersed, and I guess another big mob went off to search for the 2nd robber. They will get their revenge on him, for sure. Some people had actually been up all night watching the body burn and went to search for the 2nd guy without even going to sleep! Kenyans really really take this stuff seriously! And the police allow it. No one is going to give up the names of those who set the guy alight, and the police won't bother to follow up on it. Even Tosha's fiancee knows who did it, but he wouldn't tell us the names, despite the fact that there's no one for us to tell. I guess they figure it's their right to bring justice.
I know it's probably not right, but I kind of agree with how things are handled here. These guys tried to rob a house full of children. If one of those kids had accidentally crossed their path, they would have absolutely killed him or her to keep the kid from waking everyone up. And Tosha told me that there have been some guys driving around at night scoping out the well-off houses--watching how many men live there, are there dogs, when do people go to sleep, etc. They were definitely planning some sort of big robbery and everyone has been on edge for a few weeks. Last night wasn't the guys who have been snooping around, but taking revenge on them sent a powerful message that crime will not be tolerated there. So everyone is taking a big sigh of relief now. And let's be serious. In a country where the police are useless and corrupt, it SHOULD be up to the people to inspire fear in criminals!
Anyway, it's not even noon and already I've had QUITE a full day. What other craziness will ensue I wonder?
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