Kerala: Migrant worker from Assam, mistaken for a thief, dies after being tortured by a mob

A migrant worker from Assam died in Kottayam district of Kerala after he was allegedly tortured by a mob who suspected him to be a thief. [caption id=“attachment_2676332” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. PTI[/caption] According to The Indian Express, the victim — identified as 31-year-old Kailash Jyothi Behra — had arrived in Kottayam with three other people on Wednesday but got separated from his friends on the same day. The report added that some villagers saw him wandering around and mistook him for a thief. Another report in The New Indian Express said that Behra was then brutally beaten up by the villagers, after which he was tied up and forced to lie down on the road under the searing sun for almost an hour. Behra was then rushed to the district hospital by the police after his condition deteriorated but he could not be saved. The report further said that he had reportedly entered some houses earlier and had tried to attack the women there. Moreover, the report said that Behra fell victim to the public anger in Kerala after the brutal murder and rape of a law student. Three persons have been taken into custody by police for questioning in connection with the rape and brutal murder of the 30-year-old Dalit woman in Ernakulam district. The woman, a law student who hailed from a poor family, was allegedly subjected to rape and brutal assault using sharp edged weapons before being murdered at her house in Perumbavoor on 28 April. Ernakulam Range IG Mahipal Yadav had said there were signs of strangulation, smothering and 13 injuries on the woman’s neck, chest and at several other places of the body. With inputs from PTI