Thiruvananthapuram | Keralam Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala on Friday strongly condemned the alleged mob lynching of an unidentified man in Palakkad district, saying seven people have been arrested and an SIT will probe the incident.
Replying to a submission in the state Assembly, Chennithala termed the incident "extremely brutal and condemnable", saying such cruelty could not be accepted in a progressive state like Keralam, which has achieved complete literacy and implemented progressive legislation.
He said a 10-member SIT has been constituted for further investigation and assured the House that no one involved in the crime will be spared.
The deceased was estimated to be aged between 35 and 40, but his identity was yet to be established, the minister said.
Chennithala said he had directed the ADGP (Intelligence) to seek the assistance of his Tamil Nadu counterpart to identify the victim, as the incident occurred in a village bordering the neighbouring state.
Describing the killing as inhuman and heinous, the minister said the victim's body bore around 52 injuries.
"How can we justify a group of people joining together to commit such an inhuman and heinous murder?" he asked.
The incident came to light after the man's body was found near the Moolathara dam, close to Meenakshipuram, by residents on Sunday morning.
Police initially registered a case of unnatural death. However, examination of CCTV footage and the emergence of fresh evidence revealed that a group of people had allegedly attacked the man, pelting stones at him and beating him with wooden sticks, Chennithala said.
Subsequently, charges including murder were invoked against the accused, he added.
According to the minister, it was alleged that the victim had exposed himself in front of some local women, provoking the accused to attack him.
However, he said, there were law-enforcement agencies and courts to deal with such matters, and no one can be permitted to take the law into their own hands by attacking and killing a person.
A post-mortem examination conducted at Thrissur Medical College Hospital had revealed signs of murder, police said earlier.
The man had reportedly been roaming around the village in the Keralam-Tamil Nadu border region for some time, but his identity remained unknown.
The incident, which allegedly occurred on Saturday, has sent shockwaves through the district. It is the third alleged mob lynching reported in Palakkad in recent years.
Recalling the 2018 lynching of Madhu, a 27-year-old tribal youth from Chindakki Ooru in Attappadi, Chennithala said the incident remained a grim reminder of mob violence.
Madhu was allegedly beaten to death by a mob after being accused of stealing rice and other grocery items from a shop.
In another incident in December 2025, five people were arrested for allegedly beating a native of Chhattisgarh to death on suspicion of theft within the limits of the Walayar police station.