Man beaten to death over bid to steal goats in Namakkal, four of a family held
NAMAKKAL: Four people have been arrested by the Pallipalayam police in Namakkal district over the fatal assault of a man accused of stealing goats.
The alleged lynching occurred in the early hours of June 7, with the victim succumbing to his injuries the following evening despite medical intervention.
The deceased, A Rajkumar, 32, a resident of SPB colony in Tiruchengode, was accompanied by his brother A Karthik, 30 when they were reportedly attempting to steal two goats from Nagaraj’s house in Molagoundampalayam near Pallipalayam around 12:30 am. Both men had consumed alcohol before the act.
The theft was thwarted by Nagaraj, 58, his son Vigneshwaran, 24, and two other family members, Kumaresan, 45, and Kandasamy, 41.
Namakkal District Superintendent of Police S Rajesh Kannan said the four assailants used iron rods and wooden logs to attack Rajkumar and Karthik, causing severe injuries. Following the assault, the injured brothers were initially admitted to the government hospital at Pallipalayam and later transferred to the government hospital in Erode. Despite efforts to save him, Rajkumar died from his head injuries on June 8.
Following Rajkumar’s death, police altered the initial case of voluntarily causing hurt (IPC Section 324) to that of murder (IPC Section 302). Following the arrest, Nagaraj, Vigneshwaran, Kumaresan, and Kandasamy were remanded to judicial custody at the Salem Central Prison. Rajkumar’s body was released to his family after postmortem.