Mob killing and its impact on public health in Africa.

Mob killing also called mob justice, jungle or instant justice or community assault (CA) is a process where a group of individuals disobey the law wreaking brutality on a purported suspect of crimes namely theft, robbery, kidnapping, killing, sexual assault and other physical and property offences in the absence of due process (Bekele 2022; Chalya et al. 2015; Medar, Keyes, and Stuart 2021; Ng’walali and Kitinya 2006; Shodunke et al. 2023; Traynor et al. 2020). The accused individual has no opportunity to safeguard himself/herself or attest innocence and ends up being severely wounded or beaten to death which has created a medico-legal, social and public health challenge in some developing countries (Chalya et al. 2015; Ng’walali and Kitinya 2006; Shodunke et al. 2023). Items namely iron rods, sticks, stones, machetes, gasoline, tyres, and other flammable materials are employed by the enforcer to carry out mob action (Shodunke et al. 2023). Mob killing is regarded as a system of poor governance in which diverse rationales have been listed for mob justice which stems from anomie, statelessness and the failures of different social institutions in the country (Bekele 2022). Numerous reasons have been put forward as a tipping point for these actions which fall outside rational-legal frameworks as they reduce the capacity of human beings to be in charge of themselves and their relationships to society and law-abiding citizens (Bekele 2022). Furthermore, the majority of actions that result in mob action are not only unlawful but also equal to the infringements of fundamental human rights and freedoms which are promised under national, continental and international human rights instruments (Bekele 2022).