BULAWAYO – A man driving his employer’s four young children was brutally assaulted in Bulawayo on Thursday after he was mistaken for a child kidnapper.

The unnamed man, driving in a van bearing a security company’s livery, was held up by street hawkers on Fife Street and 5th Avenue after they heard noise coming from the back of a closed van.

An angry mob forced open the back of the van and found the children sitting on a blanket.

Gathering storm … Mob quickly surrounded van and peeped inside to see four children sitting on a blanket

The man was quickly accused of kidnapping the children. He was violently assaulted before being dragged to the Bulawayo Central Police Station where crowds swelled outside, baying for his blood.

It turned out the man was transporting his employer’s children. The children’s parents, who were also in town doing some errands before leaving for Masvingo to attend a church conference, arrived at the police station to clear up the misunderstanding.

It is thought the children, who appeared confused and even began to cry when they saw the mob, were in fact playing when their noise at the back of the van was mistaken for a cry for help.

Chief Inspector Precious Simango of Bulawayo police said while it was “good for citizens to look out for each other and protect vulnerable members of our communities such as children and the elderly”, police did not encourage the resort to mob justice.

“They shouldn’t have beaten him but should have just brought him to a police station and allowed the law to take its course,” Simango said.

The children were released to the custody of their parents and the assaulted man received hospital treatment.