Police say an innocent man has been set on fire and murdered by Parkwood residents after he was wrongfully accused of being a child kidnappper and moered to death.
Angry mense went bos on Tuesday amid rumours that the 31-year-old man from Dunoon had tried to kidnap two young girls at Parkwood Clinic.
Videos shared widely on social media show hundreds of angry residents beating the man and setting him and his white Toyota Avanza on fire.
Grassy Park station commander, Colonel Dawood Laing, says cops got a skrik when they arrived to find that residents had also tried to necklace the victim.
“The incident happened shortly after 11am when the driver of a white Toyota Avanza was seen near the clinic with two other men,” Laing explains.
“It is unclear what he was doing but somebody made a claim that they had tried to kidnap two girls and the community went bos.
“Over 100 people gathered and surrounded the car. Two of the men escaped and he was beaten until he was unconscious.
“They doused him with petrol and put a tyre around his neck and set him alight.
“When the officers arrived, they removed the tyre but the victim had already succumbed to his injuries.”
In one of the numerous videos, residents can be seen first raiding the vehicle of valuables while others strip and beat the victim with pangas and bats.
After he is killed and while his flesh is still burning, two men can be seen continuously kicking him in the head as a woman shouts: “Is reg, nie ons se kinders in Parkwood nie!”
Laing says their investigation showed that there was no proof of an attempted kidnapping.
He says the community has been set on edge following various unconfirmed reports of kidnappings on social media.
He warns that Parkwood residents taking part in the mob justice attacks will be arrested.
“The detectives questioned the security guard and the sister at the clinic and there was no evidence of any kind of kidnapping,” he says.
“This is mass hysteria caused by social media and the spreading of fake news.
“We are just as worried about kidnappings but if you look at the actual reported cases, you will see it’s not near as many as reported on social media.
“Now people have taken the law into their own hands and we are already identifying those responsible from the videos circulating. Arrests are imminent.”