Forensic surgeon Hitesh Shankar of Government Medical College Hospital, Thrissur is working hard these days to erase the blood-soaked memories of the post-mortem of Chhattisgarh native Ram Narayan Baghel on December 18, 2025.
In his career spanning a few decades, Dr. Shankar has conducted hundreds of post-mortem examinations. However, the one on Ram Narayan came out painfully. Not even an inch of the 31-year-old migrant worker’s body was left untouched, there were marks of continuous attacks on every part. Dr. Sankar says that he had never before seen such a violent attack on a human body by other humans.
There were unmistakable marks of carefully executed mob lynching on the body. After the lynching of Madhu, a tribal youth, in Attappady in 2018, Ram Narayan’s name now stands as a reminder of the inhumanity committed by a group of people in Kerala.
Ram Narayan reached Palakkad on 13 December in search of work. He stayed with his cousin Shashikant, who was a mason in Kanjikode, for a few days, but could not find a suitable job. Missing her two children aged eight and 10, she decided to return to Chhattisgarh. Yet on the afternoon of 17 December, he somehow wandered into a residential area of Attapallaam near Walayar, but was caught, interrogated and brutally beaten to death by a mob accusing him of theft.
fought for hours
The attack reportedly began around 3 pm and continued mercilessly for hours. Police were called after the migrant worker fell at 7 pm. He was taken to Palakkad Government District Hospital, but he died shortly afterwards. The post-mortem conducted at the Government Medical College Hospital, Thrissur the next day, revealed that he died of severe internal bleeding. There were injuries on his body from head to toe and many of his bones were broken.
Dr Shankar, who led the post-mortem examination, wrote emotionally on his Facebook page on December 19: “There were marks of cruelty everywhere on the back, chest, arms, legs and even on the head and brain. This was not an act of momentary anger, but the blind frenzy of the mob and complete lack of humanity.”
Dr. Sankar says, “If even one person from that gang had raised his voice against the attack, one person’s life could have been saved.”
eight arrested
Police arrested eight people in three phases. The first to be arrested were Anu Kallangadu (38), Prasad Mahalkadu (34), Murali Mahalkadu (38), Anandan (55) and Vipin (30). Later, Vinod, Jagadish and Shaji, residents of Attappalam, were arrested. Some more suspects are absconding.
Some of those arrested are reportedly Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers, and there were clearly xenophobic overtones in the way they attacked Ram Narayan. As they attacked him, they repeatedly labeled him a Bangladeshi and turned their prejudice into brutal violence.
The incident sparked immediate political outrage, with the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) and the state government targeting the BJP over the attack.
‘Victim of racial hatred’
Local Self-Government Minister MB Rajesh alleges, “Ram Narayan is a victim of racial hatred being spread across the country by the Sangh Parivar. He was attacked after being stigmatized as a Bangladeshi.” Higher Education Minister K. Bindu, Revenue Minister K. Rajan and CPI(M) state secretary MV Govindan also expressed similar concerns. Bindu alleges, “BJP is trying to repeat its hateful North Indian policies here (Kerala).”
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan also hit out at the BJP and RSS, saying the lynching was inspired by the ideology of hatred. “Some of the accused have a criminal background and a communal mindset. They are trying to transfer the mob violence successfully carried out by the Sangh Parivar in North Indian states to Kerala,” he said, warning that such efforts would only remain a pipe dream of the Sangh Parivar.
BJP’s stance
On its part, the BJP at the national level termed the mob lynching as a failure of the state government. Party spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla claimed that the government was using the incident to hide its shortcomings, while Tom Vadakkan accused the CPI(M) of diverting attention with false narratives. “CPI(M) has become a narrative machine,” he alleged.
At the local level, BJP said that it was just a mob attack and those responsible should be punished. “There is nothing political in this. The BJP does not support mob violence. In 2018, several CPI(M) workers were involved in the murder of Madhu in Attappady, but no one considered it a political murder,” argues BJP district vice president C. Krishnakumar, questioning the government’s alleged failure to prevent recurrence of such attacks.
Ram Narayan was the fifth person from other states to become a victim of mob lynching in Kerala in 10 years. In April 2024, 24-year-old Ashok Das from Arunachal Pradesh was beaten to death in Muvattupuzha in Ernakulam district. In May 2023, Rajesh Manjhi, 36, from Bihar was killed in a mob attack near Kondotty in Malappuram district. In July 2018, Manik Roy, 50, from West Bengal, was beaten to death in Anchal in Kollam district. In May 2016, 29-year-old Kailash Jyoti Bora from Assam was beaten to death in Chingavanam in Kottayam district.
Even though Kerala’s political circle expressed shock, the lynching did not cause any stir in the state’s cultural circles. Both the Chief Minister and opposition leader VD Satheesan described the incident as a disgrace to Kerala, a state that had started referring to migrant workers as “guest workers”. Satheesan also apologized to the people of Chhattisgarh and the bereaved family.
Less protests in Palakkad
There were few protests in Palakkad against the incident. A small group under the banner of Palakkad Munnottu held a candlelight protest, calling for symbolically “bringing light to those who have lost their humanity.”
In Thrissur, moving forward to support the struggling family of the victim, socio-political leaders came together and formed the Justice for Ram Narayan Baghel Action Committee. The committee’s intervention prompted the state government to announce an ex-gratia amount of ₹30 lakh for the family and set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the incident. “An investment of ₹10 lakh each will be made in the name of both the children of the victim,” the Chief Minister promised.
Chhattisgarh government has announced financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh to Ram Narayan’s family. Chief Minister Vishnudev Sai has urged the Kerala government to take strict legal action against the criminals.
State police chief Ravada A. Chandrasekhar said the accused would also be booked under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
Palakkad district police chief Ajit Kumar, who heads the SIT, expressed confidence of bringing the accused to justice. He says, “We are trying our best – not emotionally, but professionally. Our aim is to complete the investigation quickly while gathering maximum scientific evidence.”
changed legal landscape
Police are aware that Ram Narayan’s case may lack the kind of public advocacy that was seen in the Madhu lynching case in Attappady. In that case, the accused were convicted only after six years, because several witnesses turned hostile during the trial. However, the legal landscape for mob lynching has changed since Madhu’s time, and such a crime is now treated far more seriously.
Until the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was replaced by the Indian Civil Code (BNS), mob lynching did not carry stringent punishment. Earlier, such cases were dealt with under section 308 of the IPC, which carried a maximum punishment of seven years’ imprisonment with fine.
Now with the implementation of BNS, mob lynching has been elevated to the level of murder under Section 103(2). “Lynching is now considered a much more serious crime and carries the death penalty,” explains P. Premnath, former Deputy Director of Prosecutions. The new law explicitly recognizes mob lynching as a separate offence, defining it as murder committed by a group of five or more persons motivated by factors such as caste, sex, place of birth, race, religion, language, belief or community.
“Ram Narayan’s case clearly attracts Section 103(2) because the attackers targeted him because he was a Bangladeshi,” says Premnath.
attack video
For the police, a partial video of the attack provides vital clues in the case. The district police chief says, “We are planning to call the people seen in the video as witnesses. Since their actions are on record, it will be difficult for them to turn hostile. We may also consider the option of getting a government witness.”
He said that many of the accused had criminal background. However, the police refused to draw comparisons between this lynching and similar incidents in North India.
Lawyer and human rights activist Kulathur Jayasinghe has approached the Kerala State Human Rights Commission, expressing concern that innocent persons may be falsely implicated in the case due to the widespread public attention it has received. The National and State Human Rights Commission have sought a report about the incident.
similar incidents
On the day Rama Narayan was beaten to death, a gang had tied a 30-year-old man, Vipin, to a pillar and attacked him at Tenari near Elapalli, barely 15 km from Attappalam. However, the Thenari incident came to light about two weeks later, as the victim initially refrained from complaining out of fear of retaliation. Police have arrested two people in this case, both of them have criminal records. In Srikandapuram, Kannur, a 49-year-old migrant laborer named Naeem Salmani was found dead in an open field last Friday. Naeem, who worked at a salon, was allegedly beaten up by a gang following a dispute over facial charges.
Repeated incidents of mob lynching have raised questions about the respect for human rights on which Kerala had built the edifice of social justice.
