A 31-year-old migrant worker from Chhattisgarh was tragically lynched in Kerala's Palakkad district after being falsely suspected of theft while appearing mentally disoriented. (File)
A mob lynched a migrant worker from Chhattisgarh to death in Kerala’s Palakkad district Thursday, suspecting him to be a thief.
The victim, identified as Ramnarayan Bhayar (31), had been working at an industrial estate in Kanjikode, Palakkad, for the last one month. Walayar police have arrested five local persons in connection with the incident on charges of murder.
According to police, the gang brutally assaulted Bhayar at Attappallam village under the Walayar station limits after he was found wandering in the area. “He was reportedly mentally unstable. He lost his way to the industrial estate, where he was working along with other migrant workers. By evening, he was spotted near a group of women engaged in work under the MGNREGS. When he started rummaging through one of their bags, in which they usually keep meals, these women raised an alarm. A group of young men, who were nearby, rushed to the spot and assaulted him,” said an officer.
According to the officer, no stolen material could be recovered from the youth. After the gang abandoned the migrant worker, local people alerted the police, who rushed an ambulance to the spot. Although he was taken to the district hospital in Palakkad, he was declared dead.
A doctor on duty at the government district hospital reported to police that the youth had sustained multiple injuries and was bleeding from the nose and mouth. After the doctor indicated that the profuse bleeding might have led to the death, police registered a case of murder under Section 103(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Later in the night, five persons were arrested. They were identified as Murali, Prasad, Anu, Bipin and Anandan, all hailing from Attappallam village.
The post-mortem examination will be conducted on Friday and the victim’s relatives have been informed about the incident, police said.
Puthussery panchayat member Sivaraman said, “Bhayar was not involved in any theft. He had wandered in the area and was found bumping into houses seeking water. He reached the Kanjikode industrial estate only a month back. Yesterday, he might have lost his way to the estate and got stranded in the village.”
