Residents in Egypt’s Sharqiya lynch man for unburying corpse

Dozens of Sharqiya residents have lynched and killed a 30-year-old for trying to steal a corpse in Nile Delta’s Sharqiya, the Ahram Arabic news website has reported.

The mob’s victim had allegedly tried to unearth the freshly buried body of a doctor in the village of Tarot in Sharqiya’s Zagazig.

According to the police’s investigations, the deceased had been stealing bodies and selling them. When the residents caught him in the act, they beat him to death.

Up to 18 lynching incidents have previously been reported from Sharqiya since the 2011 uprising that ousted longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak. In these, the victims are usually accused of repeated thefts, including armed robbery.

Many citizens in rural and urban areas of the governorate have endorsed mob killings as long as the victim is a “criminal,” especially when “street justice” murders were most frequent during the security vacuum that followed the 2011 revolution.

Help keep Expat Cairo independent. If you value our services any contribution towards our costs would be greatly appreciated.