Man burned alive in new case of Mexican mob justice

A man accused of vehicle theft has been burned alive in an Indigenous community in southern Mexico -- the latest case of mob justice in the Latin American nation.

The prosecutor's office in Chiapas state announced a murder investigation after the killing of the 26-year-old on Thursday in Santiago El Pinar, home to the Tzotzil people.

The man was found dead by authorities with severe burns all over his body, it said.

The case comes a week after five young people were reportedly rescued having spent several hours hanging naked from basketball hoops elsewhere in Chiapas after being accused of car theft.

Mexico sees hundreds of lynchings or attempted extrajudicial executions every year, including 42 murders in 2021, according to the nonprofit group Common Cause.

Experts say the phenomenon is in part due to widespread perceptions of impunity in a country plagued by crime.