Residents of Enyitsewdo, a suburb of Cape Coast, last Tuesday refused to heed pleas of passersby and onlookers to spare the life of an unidentified man who was caught stealing a pregnant goat.

The irate residents beat the thief, believed to be in his early thirties, until he collapsed and became helpless.

According to the residents, their action was necessitated by the fact that stealing had become very rampant in the area, creating an insecure atmosphere so that they could not sleep in peace.

They added that the stealing of goats had been going on for some time, prompting the creation of a watch dog committee to look into the issue.

Around 2:00 a.m. on that day, a strange noise was heard in the area, attracting some curious residents to look ascertain what was going on.

The residents said that the noise woke up many people who chanced upon the thief trying to smuggle the pregnant goat out of the area.

They said the thief had already succeeded in killing the pregnant goat and was prepared to carry it away when they got to the scene.

According to the residents, they decided to take him to the police but the thief attempted to flee, compelling them to unleash their anger on him.

Some concerned citizens and onlookers said that they had called the police several times to come to the rescue of the thief, but all their attempts proved futile as the police had not reported at the scene as of 10:00a.m.

Residents were still continued beating the thief even though he was unconscious. He was stripped naked, tied to the dead pregnant goat and left in the middle of the road in the scorching sun.

Source: theghanaianjournal - The Ghanaian Journal | News source