A man arrested and accused of raping and murdering a 4-year-old girl was dragged from a police station in Bolivia by an angry mob and lynched (video below).
The incident occurred in Reyes, in the north of the country, according to Daily Mail.
Police were reportedly unable to prevent the mob storming the jail, forcing open the bars, seizing the accused and dragging him outside.
The man was hung from a tree soon afterwards.
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The 4-year-old girl, who was not identified by name, was visiting the region for her grandmother’s funeral when she was killed.
“The dead bodies, both the girl’s and the lynching victim’s, have been moved to Palos Blancos [near Bolivian capital La Paz], we are investigating the case,” said Ivan Zambrana, department director of the special crime investigation unit, the Mail reported.
Lynchings in Bolivia take place regularly. In 2013, RT reported that almost half of Bolivian territory was outside of police control.
Some mobs hang rag dolls from telegraph polls to warn would-be criminals.
“They put up such rag dolls in all La Paz districts. You may mistake them for scarecrows but in fact they are a warning to criminals saying that lynching is being practiced here,” an anonymous store owner told RT.
During the first six months of 2013, Bolivia’s Office of the Ombudsman reported the deaths of 10 people from lynchings. More recent figures were unavailable.
A 2008 statement from the Human Rights Foundation condemned the practice of lynching in Bolivia.
“Lynching is on the rise,” the statement read. “Often, individuals in these mobs cite ‘communal justice’ to justify barbaric actions such as hanging, crucifixion, stoning, live burial, and burning.”
Police have not yet arrested anyone over the latest lynching. Officers are reportedly reviewing videos of the incident posted on social media to determine who should be held accountable.