Three Legon students were allegedly caught at the Accra Mall yesterday allegedly trying to steal underwear from one of the stores, Mr. Price.
They were either made to pay for the items, or the goods were reclaimed ( there are conflicting reports). Thereafter, as punishment,the women were made to crawl from the store to the main mall entrance, as people called out taunts, and videoed.
Where do i even begin with this?..
So the ladies were caught. Great. At that point, im quite sure procedure demands that the mall security detain them, and call the police.
What you are NOT allowed to do is force them to crawl their way out of the building. Since when do rent a cops have those kind of powers?
Those girls are well within their rights to actually sue the mall admin for a violation of their civil liberties.
Beyond that though, its really high time that we understand as a country that mob justice as punishment is unacceptable, not to mention illegal.
These particular girls were caught red handed, it seems..
Bags full of underwear.
But how many times have we heard a story of men being beaten to death for ‘theft’ only to find out later that it was a case of mistaken identity?
And being a mob scenario, no one is ever made to pay for having murdered an innocent person.
I absolutely understand the frustration at leaving things in the hands of the ghana police and court system. Both are broken and often useless. But the alternative is much, much worse. If we want to call our selves a civilized society, then we must act as such.
A few more things. Why do Ghanaian security types always get so frighteningly power drunk? Whether its a night club bouncer, security man at a bank, or the ultimate, the security guards at the British or American Embassy, give them a uniform and place them at an entrance and suddenly they transform into Gestapo. Aden?? Frankly the police themselves don’t seem to understand that a uniform does not give you carte blanche to be abusive and ignorant with impunity.
Now onto the thieving-ass girls themselves. Hair done, nails done, make up on point, clothes on point… but you are at the mall stuffing stolen goods into your (faux?)FENDI bag? Is it that serious? Do you need to keep up appearances that badly? One would imagine, that as a university student, the only thing you should ever be caught stealing, if it came to that, is text books. Such nonsense.
People, if this is not the embodiment of girls abre, i dont know what is. The struggle is definitely real out here. EVERYONE is going broke, but dammit they will continue to look the part!
A shame….
What say you?
musingsatmidnite.com 
You are on point.. If it were men (stealing briefs or boxers) no one would talk about “human rights”.. And the gals too I’m sure they are busy roshin some boys that like them yet they can’t buy underwear… Haha..
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Oh dear!
But you are right. If it were boys, they might have been beaten to death.
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You took the words right out of my mouth Fii….I’m going to have to share this on my wall. I hope the girls do not sue!
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Phyllz its just crazy! I almost hope they would sue, and someone would take their case pro bono. Just so there is some public awareness. Yes even thieves have rights!
Thanks for being a faithful commenter, lol. And do share away xx
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This is outrageous and I’m not defending it. But haven’t thieves always been subjected to mob justice in Ghana or has this changed? When I was a kid I remember that any time a thief was caught it became a free for all mortal kombat type tournament. In fact people from other neighborhoods, people on their way to work, taxi, trotro drivers would even stop and join in the melee. I recall one incident where the robber actually got up and run into the arms of the police officer when they finally arrived. My point is, if this has been the culture and again i’m not condoning it, won’t it explain why these ladies, and again i’m not condoning it, were mistreated?
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Kojo, you are ofcourse right. Ive personally seen more than one burnt up corpse, post “tiring”.
But it was wrong then, and its wrong now. Perhaps the fact that they are pretty legon students, and not hard faced nima boys is what is giving people pause. Or perhaps, like with anything else, there is a double standard. Women and men arent treated the same, even in thievery.
And maybe, just maybe, we are slowly moving away from the ‘Mortal Combat” method.
I will say i am heartened that people are outraged. And ill add that the last time i saw a video of a female thief having been busted, she was being stripped and sexually assaulted. THIS is actually positive progress, compared to that smh.
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Fii I couldn’t agree more!!
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Thanks for commenting 🙂
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Upon watching the video although I do not sympathize with the thieves, that was a poor judgment call by the mall security… but Fii wait ooo what else would you expect from someone who was just picked off the street and donned with security uniform with no form of education and the mentality that the uniform comes with some kind of power… I’m even straying too far as a matter of fact, what has the so called educated public figures done for the country not to talk about the uneducated??? I don’t blame these security guys, as bad as this looks it’s the sad truth and a cry to the nation to do something about these mob madness. The question is do they even care?
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“what has the so called educated public figures done for the country not to talk about the uneducated??”.
Mrs. M.. that one cuts deep, because we all know the sad answer. SMH.
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There are many practices that have been culturally acceptable since generations past. I am just glad that, there is a conversation and awareness that mob-justice is never the solution.
Mob justice is similar to vigilanteism in my opinion, even in certain Western Countries, one is allowed to shoot a thief off their property etc. Point is, as stated in the article, civility in our Ghanaian society should be preached and taught daily on our media outlets so that most of the populace will understand that it is a terrible way to mete out justice. Then they should also be educated to know that there will be real punitive repercussions for engaging in mob justice.
Necessary post.
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