KERALA - Police in the south Indian state of Kerala have arrested two people after a video of a mob lynching a man accused of theft went viral, BBC reported Friday.Footage of the incident horrified Indians, along with images of people taking selfies while watching the man, who was tied up, being killed. The victim was identified as a tribesman who lived in the area.Police told the BBC that they were actively searching for other people involved in the murder.
Senior police official Prateesh Kumar said a team had rushed to the spot in the state's Palakkad district after receiving information that a man was being attacked.They managed to halt the attack and rushed the man, named Madhu, to hospital. However, he died before he could receive any medical attention, Mr Kumar added.There was widespread horror in Kerala when graphic footage of the incident emerged, and some of it was broadcast on TV.Popular Kerala actor Mammooty made an impassioned statement on Facebook about the incident.
"Madhu's death is because our system is responsible... a system which has ordered mob justice and a person who attacks another is no human. How can we declare ourselves modern and progressive?" his post read.State chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that "strict action" would be taken against the attackers and that the incident was a "blot" on Kerala's progressive society."The worst thing that one person can do to another is to take a selfie in such a situation," tribal activist Dhanya Raman told BBC Hindi.
