A policeman has died in the Mexican city of Zacatelco after being beaten by residents enraged over the murder of a taxi driver. The officer reportedly intervened when locals set upon two men suspected of killing the taxi driver. Several other policemen were also injured by the mob of angry neighbors. Residents of Zacatelco have complained about crimes going unpunished. According to local daily El Sol de Tlaxcala, four men tried to rob an elderly taxi driver of his car, killing him when he resisted. Locals who had observed the incident gave chase and caught two of the four suspects, beating them in the local square. State police intervened and saved the suspects, but the group then turned on the officers, seizing two of them and attacking them. One was rescued by his colleagues and is being treated for severe injuries. But the second one, a state police officer, was held for several hours, the local paper reported. He was finally freed after police reinforcements arrived, but later died of his injuries in hospital. Lynching is not uncommon in parts of Mexico where criminals are often not held accountable by police. Tlaxcala, the state where Zacatelco is located, registered 23 attempts between January and September of 2023, according to figures released by NGO Causa en Común (Common Cause). That is the highest figure in Mexico. In three cases, the lynchings in Tlaxcala proved fatal. The lynchings are not only confined to Tlaxcala. Last month, a woman suspected of murdering an eight-year-old girl was beaten to death in Guerrero state. Polls suggest violent crime and a lack of security are top concerns among Mexicans, with anger about the small number of successful prosecutions fuelling vigilante violence. — BBC
