Mangochi Police Deputy Spokesperson, Sun Inspector Amina Tepani Daudi, who has identified the deceased as Mwaiwawo Kwitanda, said the incident happened at Saiti Kadzuwa village, in the area of Traditional Authority Mponda.

According to Tepani Daudi, on wee hours of Wednesday, Kwitanda who is an ex-convict after serving two jail sentences and was just pardoned recently in another sentence, broke into the house of Witness Ndaona, and went away with assorted items including K80-thousand.

“The owner of the house noticed something as Kwitanda was breaking away and shouted for help from people who responded and apprehended him,” said Tepani Daudi.

She said after apprehending him with some of the stolen property, the angry mob assaulted him heavily.

“We rushed to the scene and took him to Mangochi district hospital where death was pronounced upon arrival as he sustained severe head injuries,” explained Tepani Daudi.

She said postmortem conducted at the same hospital revealed that death was due to difficulties in breathing.

“Meanwhile, we are investigating the matter to arrest the perpetrators of the mob justice, and we are also appealing to the public to avoid taking the law into their own hands, mob justice is not only illegal but also jeopardizes crime investigation,” she pleaded.