“Vimba, vimba (catch him, catch him)…” These were the screams of angry shoppers who taught an alleged habitual thief a bloody lesson. The man got more than he bargained for, when a group of shoppers severely beat him for allegedly snatching a handbag which contained R400 from an innocent woman in Songozwi Street, Louis Trichardt, on Saturday.

The mob justice administrators, who said they were tired of criminal activities in town, battered him as fast as lightning and blood was oozing from his face. The man was later rescued by one of the shoppers, who begged people to stop punishing him. He then vanished into thin air, despite the fact that his eyes were covered with blood.

Shoppers said the man is a habitual criminal who snatches handbags from unsuspecting women in town. “Today was just a bad day for him, as lady luck was not on his side. He snatched a handbag from the woman, but we saw him. He tried to run away, but we caught up with him before he could escape,” said one of the shoppers.

Another shopper said: “We heard a woman screaming and when we rushed there, we saw this man running away with a black handbag. After catching him, we agreed not to call the police, because they would arrest and release him. We then decided to give him a taste of mob justice. We are tired of these criminal activities in town and we are sure that this will be a lesson to other would-be criminals, that they do not have any room to exploit us here in Louis Trichardt.”