Kerala Lynching Case: The suspects reportedly told the police that Manchi fell from a first floor of a house after a failed robbery attempt. Therefore, the accused detained him and thrashed him for over an hour. The post-mortem examination of the deceased's body revealed several wounds, indicating a mob attack.
Malappuram: Nine days after the barbaric lynching of Bihar native Rajesh Manchi in the Malappuram district of Kerala, the investigation team is still trying to piece together the facts in the case. Even though the Kerala Police arrested nine suspects in connection with the case, the probe team is still trying to ascertain what the victim was doing at the spot and the reason that led to his brutal killing.
Thirty-six-year-old Manchi from Bihar's East Champaran district was allegedly thrashed by a mob using pipes and wooden sticks that caused injuries to his ribs, hips, and chest. The body of Rajesh Manchi was found in Kizhisseri late on May 12 (Friday).
After tying Manchi's hands, the accused tortured him for over two hours with sticks and pipes to extract information about an alleged theft, said Malappuram district police chief S Sujith Das.
"He was tortured from 12.15 am to 2.30 am after being accused of being a thief. After he became unresponsive, they dragged his body to a nearby market area," he said. The locals reported the incident to the police, who rushed him to a nearby private hospital. However, he was declared dead.
A case has been filed against Muhammad Afzal, Fazil, Sharafudheen, Mehboob, Abdu Samad, Nassar, Habib and Ayyub, natives of Kizhissery, on charges including murder. Zainul Abidin, who allegedly tried to destroy the CCTV footage on premises near the crime scene, has also been taken into custody.
The accused have been booked under sections 146 (rioting), 302 (murder), 342 (wrongful confinement) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence) of the IPC. The post-mortem examination of the deceased's body revealed several wounds, indicating a mob attack.
According to reports, the migrant worker had recently arrived in Kondotty, Kizhisseri. The suspects reportedly told the police that Manchi fell from a first floor of a house after a failed robbery attempt. Therefore, the accused detained him and thrashed him for over an hour.
The police also examined the phones of the suspects. They allegedly took photos of the victim after beating him cruelly.
Meanwhile, the issue has taken a political twist with senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala alleging that mob lynchings were becoming a widespread occurrence in Kerala and that this cannot go unnoticed.
