Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 21 (IANS) Training guns on the Pinarayi Vijayan government over mob lynching of a migrant worker from Chhattisgarh in Kerala’s Palakkad, the Congress party on Sunday demanded immediate action against all those involved in the ghastly crime and also adequate compensation for the victim’s family.

It also demanded that the Kerala government make due arrangements for the dignified transportation of the mortal remains of Ramnarayan Baghel to his native village, who was allegedly mistaken for being a ‘Bangladeshi national’ and brutally beaten to death.

KC Venugopal, Congress MP from Kerala, tore into the state government, accusing it of failing to rein in the violent forces who ran amok, killing the poor labourer from Chhattisgarh.

The 31-year-old Ramnarayan Baghel, a resident of Sakti district, had gone to Kerala in search of work and better earnings; however, this marked the end of his life as he was mercilessly thrashed to death by an unruly mob in Palakkad district.

A video of the incident also surfaced on social media, where the victim was seen bleeding with multiple injuries on his head and body, sparking a wave of anger and outrage online.

According to reports, Ramnarayan tried to reason with the ruffians, but the latter didn’t listen and kept on brutally beating him, calling him “Bangladeshi”.

The Congress General Secretary, reacting to the incident, slammed the state government for the deteriorating law and order situation and also its “lackadaisical approach” in dealing with the brutal killing of Ramnarayan.

“The Kerala Government has displayed a completely lackadaisical attitude in curbing the spread of fear-based propaganda and unchecked rumour-mongering. They must answer for the lack of timely action and their complete failure in managing the law and order situation in the state,” he wrote in a post on X.

The Congress leader also raked up the shocking 2018 case, in which a tribal youth named Madhu was lynched to death in a similar fashion, and the perpetrators were brought to justice only after a widespread outpouring of anger and outrage from people.

“It is deplorable how a society with a rich history of communal harmony like Kerala is seeing repeated instances of mob violence,” he said, ruing the loss of another innocent life, over suspicion and misinformation.

Madhu was badly beaten by the mob, who mistook him as thief. Hours later, he had succumbed to injuries.

–IANS

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