Brutal Mob Lynching Of Bihari Tribal Labourer In Kerala: Muhammed Afsal Among Eight Arrested

At least eight people have been arrested in connection with the brutal mob lynching of a Bihari tribal labourer in Kerala's Mallapuram district.

Thirty-six-year-old Rajesh Manjhi, a migrant labourer from Bihar, was lynched to death on suspicion of burglary on Saturday (13 May), the police said, reports News18.

Manjhi, who had reached Malappuram only two days ago, was mercilessly beaten with pipes and sticks for at least two hours by at least eight people and was then thrown outside a shop at around 2.30 am on Saturday.

 An hour later, the police were informed about the incident. The police took the critically injured Manjhi, whose hands were found tied, to the hospital where he was declared brought dead.

The body was shifted to Government Medical College Hospital, Kozhikode, where the postmortem was done.

According to Malappuram Superintendent of Police (SP) Sujith Das  Das, the assault began with an accusation of theft.

“Two persons who work in a chicken shop near the residence of Muhammed Afsal heard some noise in the early hours of Saturday and went to check. They found Rajesh sitting in a corner and called the house owner Afsal and his family who were sleeping inside. Two of Afsal’s brothers also arrived and they all questioned and assaulted Rajesh accusing him of theft. This continued for two hours,” the SP said, reports The News Minute.

Afsal’s family members then began questioning him and assaulting him. After two hours, they informed a social worker, Anwar, about it and Anwar informed police, who took Rajesh to a hospital, according to TNM‘s account. 

Later the suspects took Rajesh to a junction nearby and informed a social worker named Anwar about it. It was Anwar who informed the police.

The police took Rajesh to a private hospital nearby, where he was examined and declared brought dead by doctors.

After investigation, the police found that the eight accused were directly involved in thrashing the victim.

He had grievous injuries to his ribs, chest and abdomen and his hands had been tied.

Afsal and the others in his family are part of the arrested eight.

One more person is being questioned for tampering with the evidence and deleting surveillance camera footage.