Angry residents of Manase Township in Blantyre on Tuesday set ablaze a house belonging to chairperson of the neighbourhood watch, accusing him and his fellow members of the group of having a hand in the death of one of the community members.  

According to Blantyre Police spokesperson Sub-Inspector Peter Mchiza, it is alleged that a few days ago one of the community members was beaten by the neighbourhood watch and he eventually died at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (QECH) on Monday.

“Just a few days ago one of the community members lodged a complaint at Manase Police Unit claiming that he was beaten at night by neighbourhood watch group from the area and the police referred him to hospital for treatment.

“We advised him that soon after getting the treatment he should report back to the police so that we should record a statement from him so that we could process a case file,” Sub-Inspector Mchiza said.

According to Sub-Inspector Mchiza, the complainant did not report back to police as advised until on Tuesday when the police received a report that he has died at QECH.

Following the news of his death, the community members got furious and mobilized themselves to seek for a revenge on the members of neighbourhood watch who fled for their lives and seek refuge at Manase Police Unit.

The angry community members stormed the police unit seeking for the release of the neighbourhood watch members with the aim of taking the law into their own hands.

But after the police refused to bow down to their demands, the angry community members went to the house belonging to the chairperson of the neighbourhood watch where they set it ablaze and damaging properties.

No injury has been reported.