JD(U) state president M P Veerendra Kumar today condemned the lynching of a tribal man by locals at a village near Palakkad for allegedly stealing food articles.
"The unapologetic cruelty of the incident has shaken the conscience of society. People have no right to take law into their hands. It is more painful that nobody came forward to prevent the cruel incident and remained mute spectators," he said.
"Taking pictures of the attack when a hungry, hapless man being lynched by a mob has exposed the ugly face of society," he added.
Some television channels had aired visuals purportedly showing people taking selfies with the 30-year-old Madhu, with his hands tied.
Veerendra Kumar urged the state government to conductan extensive probe into the killing and said exemplary punishment to the culprits would deter others from indulging in such activities in future.
Madhu, suspected to be mentally unsound, was allegedly beaten to death by locals at the forest fringe town of Agali near Palakkad on February 22 after they accused him of stealing food articles from some shops, triggering protests across the state yesterday.
Seven persons, including two who allegedly had a direct role in the incident, have been detained.
Tribals and human rights activists had staged protests in various parts of Kerala after photos and visuals of the fatal attack went viral on social media, besides being telecast by TV channels.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had condemned the incident and said stringent action would be taken against all the accused to ensure that such crimes, specially against people from communities that are marginalised, did not recur.
Today, the Centre sought a report from the Kerala government over the lynching to death of the tribal man.
Union Tribal Affairs minister Jual Oram said his ministry has sought a report from the chief secretary about the incident and the action taken by the state government.
The state government also decided to provide financial aid of Rs 10 lakh to the family of Madhu.
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