Vigilantes beat up teen
2003-04-11 17:50
Cape Town - A 16-year-old boy from Delft South on the Cape Flats was tied up and beaten on Thursday night after being accused by the community of having stolen colddrinks, Western Cape police reported on Friday.
Captain Joe Wilson said police received a call from the boy's mother shortly before 22:00 that her son was being beaten up.
She told police two men had then abducted her son and sped away in a car.
A description of the vehicle was circulated over the police radio network. The vehicle was forced off the road and the seriously injured boy was taken to Tygerberg Hospital.
Wilson said two men, aged 35 and 63, both of Delft South, were arrested and would appear in court in due course.
Delft police warned the public on Friday to refrain from taking the law into their own hands. Such action turned the law-abiding citizen into a criminal.
Wilson said it was the second incident of vigilantism in Delft. A month ago two men aged 25 and 40 were tied up, painted and beaten with sticks and sjamboks.
- SAPA