Deaths due to mob violence-A postmortem study

Mob justice or instant justice occurs when a mob, usually several dozens or several hundreds of people take the law into their hands to injure, maim and kill a person or persons accused of wrongdoing. Mob justice constitutes a medico-legal, social and public health problem in our setting. This study was undertaken to find out the incidence and circumstances leading to mob violence in Imphal. A retrospective study was done from the post mortem records from 2005 to 2014 and various parameters responsible for mob violence were analyzed. During the 10 year study period from 2005 to 2014, out of 4203 autopsies done at a teaching hospital in Imphal, 21 cases were deaths due to mob violence. The young adult men in their economically productive age-group are mostly affected. Robbery or theft were the most common reason. Blunt force injury was the commonest cause of death. Weak public administrative systems propel people to take the laws into their own hands to engage in mob action or instant justice. Eliminating mob justice requires a concerted effort on behalf of the government, civil society organizations, and individual citizens.