How does mob justice happen? You may question yourself. You are in a busy street going about your daily activity. You hear a shrilly sound from most probably a lady and a heavy commotion follows shortly. There is tension in the air. You turn back to see what is happening only to find a group of three or more roughing up a young man. Your curiosity makes you to get closer to witness the scene. By the time you arrive the number of people have increased, the young man is already drowning into his pool of blood and the people around him are using any available objects to hit him. You come across a young lady and panic is written all over her face and she can’t force back her tears. The atmosphere forces you to ask her what is going on. She struggles to speak but after gaining composure she tells you that the young man being beaten thoroughly had tried to snatch her mobile phone and after screaming people came from nowhere and cornered the man who was trying to run for his life.
It’s always a messy scene where the mob has dispensed its justice. But is mob justice a form of justice? They always believe they are right. They often draw their power in their huge numbers. They are almost unstoppable when they begin to execute their justice. They are outrageous, easily provoked and they don’t allow any form of opposition. The suspect or the victim always suffers their wrath. They always tie their actions to the assumption that once they are done with the suspect, it’s always a learning point for others who may be having the criminal mind to change. They are not always concerned whether the victim who was being robbed will get back their property. No! They want it to be a learning lesson to the other upcoming thugs. In most of the times, the suspect ends up being torched, hanged up or left to die after severe beating.
The mob justice mentality makes them the law enforcer, the prosecutor and judge at a go. The suspect always has no time to be heard which is a violation against his right. The law of being innocent till proven guilty is always contravened and yet it’s called justice. Cases of mistaken identity are always rampant when the mob justice takes its cause. Innocent lives are lost and this leads to a bitter pain amongst the relatives of the victim. The mob psychology presumes that once they are done with their barbaric act the other criminals will be put on notice and part ways with their criminal nature. That is not always the case since as a matter of fact, crime increases as the accomplices of their victim seeks to revenge. Also research has shown that the people who always involve their selves in the act of mob justice are always the people with lewd characters coupled with idle minds seeking a place to vent out their anger and frustrations. In other circumstances, the participants in mob justice were once the victims of violent robbery.
There is always amicable ways of conflict resolutions and mob justice does not make it one. A state is governed by its laws enshrined under a constitution and therefore taking laws into ones hand is purely injustice. Justice cannot be achieved when one party is not heard and his or her own rights are infringed. The mob justice mentality is the worst disease that needs to be cured and it can only be achieved when you and I get together and not involve ourselves with the act.