Thieves forced to drink cases of liquor stolen from store (video)

A group of thieves, arrested after allegedly invading a store and stealing crates of alcohol, were forced to consume the entire contents in one go, amid floggings and intimidation.

The incident reportedly took place in South Africa and was filmed in a video circulating on the Internet, sparking numerous reactions. South African journalist Velani Ludidi shared the video on Wednesday, showing a moment when the thieves found themselves struggling with the alcoholic bottles.

According to reports, the culprits illegally entered a store and took away alcoholic beverages worth around 14,000 South African rand. When apprehended the next day, the thieves were still in possession of the loot. At this point, they were faced with a dilemma: either consume all the alcohol stolen from the premises or face “umphakathi”, a local expression for community justice, which sometimes manifests itself in forceful and confrontational ways.

“Thieves broke in and stole $14,000 worth of alcohol. They were arrested a day later with alcohol. The owner said they have to drink it all at once or face the umphakathi,” the video captioned.

Social media users expressed hilarious reactions to the video, with the majority eager to see the state of the alleged thieves after downing the numerous bottles of alcoholic drinks under duress. It is still unclear whether the suspects were able to drink all the bottles of the stolen drinks, whether they were left behind and in what condition.