A 27 -year -old man in Ntcheu district has been beaten to death by angry residents after he was found stealing a chicken.

On Thursday, police have confirmed that Chethani Jason who hailed from Mapira Village , Traditional Authority Chakhumbira, in the district has murdered around 4 pm, just a day after he was released from prison.

Ntcheu police Public Relations Officer, Hastings Chigalu said the deceased has been a gaol bird

“On this fateful day, after his release from prison on August 30,2017 where he was serving theft sentence, he went to a village headman along with his 19 year-old accomplice,Kuyipa Martin of the same particulars where they stole a chicken.

“The village headman along with some villagers went straight to his house to ask him on the matter. When confronted, the deceased came out of his house with a knife and stabbed the village headman on the chest. This prompted the chief to shout for help,”,” explained Chigalu.

The deceased started running away and people chased him until he was caught and assaulted him with different objects.

He was later taken to Lizulu health centre where he died while receiving medical attention.

Postmortem conducted at the medical facility revealed that death was due to loss of blood secondary to bodly assault.

Meanwhile Police have condemned such acts of mob justice depict it as  a crime punishable by law.