A/R: How angry mob lynched suspected phone thief at Kotwi

A man believed to be in his thirties has died after being brutally assaulted by a mob at Kotwi, a community in the Atwima Kwanwoma District of the Ashanti Region, following allegations that he stole a mobile phone from a shop.

The incident took place around 3 p.m. on Monday, May 5. Eyewitnesses say the man entered a shop and snatched a mobile phone from a woman. Her loud cries for help quickly drew the attention of bystanders, who pursued the suspect as he tried to flee.

Unfamiliar to local residents, the man was suspected of being part of a group said to have been troubling the community in recent weeks. He was caught and subjected to a violent beating by an angry crowd. By the time officers from the Trede Police Station arrived, he was already dead and the perpetrators had vanished.

Speaking to the media, Assembly Member for the Kotwi Twenease Electoral Area, John Justice Ankomah, confirmed he had been informed about the situation by some market traders.

“I swiftly called the police to intervene, but when they arrived at the scene, the tragic event had already occurred with the mob nowhere to be found,” he said.

The victim’s body has been deposited at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) morgue, while the Brofoyedru police—under whose jurisdiction the incident occurred—have launched a manhunt for those responsible.

Mr. Ankomah strongly condemned the lynching and urged residents to resist the temptation to take justice into their own hands. He advised that any criminal suspects should be handed over to law enforcement.

He further called on security agencies to increase their presence in the area, noting that the attack was not an isolated case.

According to him, a similar theft had taken place recently, but in that instance, “the suspect in the other incident managed to escape from the angry youth.”

Investigations into the latest killing are ongoing.