Bihar native lynched to death in Kerala over suspicion of theft; 9 arrested

The Kerala police arrested nine people for killing Rajesh Manchi (36) on suspicion of theft.   

Malappuram: In yet another shocking incident, a migrant worker from Bihar was allegedly lynched to death in Malappuram's Kizhisseri on Saturday. The police registered a case of mob lynching on Sunday. 

The Kerala police arrested nine people for killing Rajesh Manchi (36) on suspicion of theft. 

Rajesh Manchi was beaten by the accused with pipes and wooden sticks, suffering injuries to his ribs, hips, and chest. The body of Rajesh Manchi was found in Keezhissery late on May 12 (Friday).

After tying Rajesh Manchi's hands, the accused tortured him for more than two hours with sticks and pipes to extract information about the theft, said Malappuram district police chief S Sujith Das, IPS. 

"He was tortured from 12.15 am to 2.30 am. After he became unresponsive, they dragged his body to a nearby market area," he said. The locals soon reported the incident to the police, who rushed him to a nearby private hospital but was declared dead.

Rajesh Manchi's body was later taken to Kozhikode Medical College Hospital. Police discovered several bruise marks on his body.

A case has been filed against Muhammad Afzal, Fasil, Sharruddin, Mehboob, Abdus Samad, Nassar, Habib and Ayyub, natives of Kizhissery, on charges including murder. Zainul Abidin, who destroyed the nearby CCTV footage, has also been arrested.

Earlier, in a similar case, Kerala witnessed a mob lynching of a 30-year-old tribal youth Madhu in  Palakkad district’s Attappadi, for allegedly stealing rice from a grocery shop. A special investigation team filed a 3,000-page charge sheet in May 2018, named 16 persons as accused, and charged them with murder and offenses under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.