Three men accused of the alleged theft of a vehicle in Bolivia are burned alive
Although 3 alleged thieves were arrested by the Police, more than 100 people broke in violently and took them away to lynch them.
A mob burned alive three men accused of the alleged theft of a vehicle in a rural town in the Bolivian region of Potosí, in the southwest of the country, reported the police commander of that department, Colonel Pompeo Sánchez.
The incident occurred when the Police received a report about the theft of a vehicle. After search efforts, the unit was located, “inside which there were three people, who were allegedly the perpetrators of this robbery,” Sánchez said.
The men were arrested and taken to the Pocoata police station, but more than 100 people violently broke in and took the detainees out, according to the police chief.
The men were first taken by the mob to the main square of the town, where it was decided to supposedly apply the so-called “community justice” to them, so they were then taken “to the cemetery, setting them on fire and burning them,” he added.
According to Sánchez, after the irruption of the mob, reinforcements were requested to be sent from the town of Llallagua, also in Potosí, but they could not arrive due to a blockade on that road.
The police chief stated that they managed to recover the bodies of the men and took them to the Pocoata morgue.
Cases of lynching are relatively common in rural areas and some peri-urban neighborhoods of Bolivia.
National authorities and international organizations, including the United Nations, have shown their concern about these acts that the Police have failed to stop, since many take place in areas where there are hardly any officers who can confront the mobs.