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Rabat – A street vendor set himself on fire in front of the police station in the old city of Rabat on Friday after facing an alleged incident of “hokra” or injustice at the hands of authorities, according to several reports emerging from the area.
An ambulance made a delayed arrival to the scene in near Bab Lhadand transported the self-immolating man to the hospital, but his health is deteriorating, sources close to him say.
Several news sites filmed the aftermath of the incident as investigators took pictures of cloth pieces and other debris that remained at the site.
Those who knew the man – whose identity remains unclear from reports – said he was unemployed, but well-mannered. He had been a victim of a robbery four months ago, according to the man’s brother, who spoke to Hespress.
Several days ago, he spotted the men who had stolen from him and entered into a fight with them. When the police reached the scene, they took one of the perpetrators into custody on charges of theft and assault after the victim filed an official report.
Two days later, the violator was released, leading the victim to set himself on fire in the face of what he considered to be a “failure of justice,” a local man told AlYaoum24.
Police officers stopped citizens who witnessed the incident from filming it, according to those who were present at the time. Images and video clips of self-immolations and other gory abuses are known to create uproar in Morocco, as well as other countries around the globe.
Last month, thousands of Moroccans took to the streets when pictures of fish vendor Mohcine Fikri crushed in the trash compactor of a garbage truck circulated the internet. The vendor and his colleagues had been protesting the confiscation of their fish by local officers, who said the species was illegal to sell in markets.
