POLICE are warning communities against taking justice into their own hands after a man was brutally beaten up, allegedly for stealing from his neighbours.
Two weeks ago informal community policing forum members in a township outside Empangeni attacked a 28-year-old man after they received information from residents that he had been involved in a number of house robberies in the area.
The suspect, who faces charges of robbery, appeared at the Empangeni Magistrate’s Court on Monday with wounds all over his body.
He told the judge he was beaten with sjamboks and sticks by people who were known to him.
The matter was postponed but a court date had not been set. King Cetshwayo Cluster Police spokesperson, Captain Mbongeni Mdlalose, said those who take matters into their own hands would also be charged.
‘It is up to the police to conduct an investigation and the court to decide if the suspect is guilty or not.
‘We urge communities not to take the law into their own hands by just relying on information gathered by word of mouth.’
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