Where's the thief?

My dad used to work for the Telegraph and Telephone Board. We lived in a gated community where couple of buildings was used to house cables and other equipment. One morning, there was a gathering in front of one of those buildings. When my mother enquired about it, the guard at our house told us they have caught a thief that night that was trying to get in the building. Most probably to steal something and then sell it to get some money. It was a thrilling event to a nine/ten year old. I begged my mother to go down and see the thief. I got the permission after annoying her for over an hour. I held the guard’s hand as he led me to see the thief. He was bleeding from various cuts. Apparently, all the guards, drivers, gardeners appointed at various houses and some local people had taken the law upon themselves and had beaten the thief to teach him a lesson. He was probably barely conscious when I saw him. I came back home and went to school and forgot all about the thief.

Years later, I read a similar story, where the girl supposedly saw the thief and said, “Where’s the thief? That’s a human being.” I tried to remember that story when I read this article today.