A wave of anger and outrage has swept across Cameroon following an act of mob justice of extreme violence. In the village of Baloum, near Dschang in the Western Region, a young craftsman in his twenties named Steve was burned alive in public. The release of a video of his execution on social media has sparked national shock.

The terrible spiral: from accusation to torture

Everything changed very quickly for the victim, who was targeted by accusations of theft involving a few sheets of metal.

1. Citizen arrest: An angry crowd seized the young man and dragged him by force to the courtyard of the traditional chieftaincy.
2. The pleas: With his hands and feet tied, sitting on the ground, Steve proclaimed his innocence to the very end, imploring: "I am not a thief, call my parents."
3. The execution: Deaf to his cries, his executioners trapped him in worn tires, doused him with gasoline before setting him ablaze in front of numerous passive witnesses.

A village chief at the heart of the scandal and wanted by the justice system

The case took an even more serious turn with the analysis of the amateur video footage, where the traditional chief could be clearly heard addressing the victim, saying: "Say your last prayer."

Conflicting versions: While the presence and direct involvement of the village chief seem compromised by the recording, some testimonies claim on the contrary that he was not on the scene or that the tragedy took place outside the chiefdom.

In the face of this horror, Steve's family filed an official complaint. Currently on the run and actively being sought by the police, the village chief is at the center of the criminal investigation aimed at shedding full light on this lynching.