Lubango - A 37-year-old teacher died on Monday at Lubango Central Hospital, hours after being brutally beaten, allegedly mistaken for a thief after accidentally "breaking into" a house in the Machiqueira neighborhood.
The case went viral on social media, showing the victim in videos with his wrists and legs tied wounds to his face and being beaten with a belt.
Investigations by the National Police revealed that the citizen was heading to his home in the early hours of the morning, drunk, but it is thought that he made a mistake and entered someone else's house, where he was mistaken for a burglar, tied up and beaten with objects.
Speaking to ANGOP, the head of Huila’s Department for Criminal Offences Investigation (DIIP), Superintendent Pedro Cassoma Mendes, said the victim was taken to the 3rd Police Station by two suspects on Saturday morning, but because of his condition the police kept them in custody and the teacher was taken to hospital.
"We later learnt that the victim had just died and the PN again made a sequential report to the Public Prosecutor's Office, which issued an arrest warrant for three of the citizens, aged 23, 26 and 29, who were initially suspected of carrying out the assault," the police chief said.
The DIIP spokesperson explained that the detained citizens were not on the run after the delivery of the teacher and following the arrest warrant, the two of them turned themselves in voluntarily.
The victim leaves behind a widow and three minor children. EM/MS/DAN/AMP
