Human rights activists alleged that there was a deliberate attempt to downplay the brutal mob lynching of Ram Narayan, a migrant worker from Chhattisgarh, at Walayar in Palakkad and demanded that the crime be officially recorded as a mob lynching. They also demanded that the victim’s family be paid ₹25,000 as compensation and that the state government bear the cost of transporting the body to his native place.
Addressing a protest rally in Thrissur on Saturday, activists said the collective conscience of Kerala has been deeply scarred by the spread of communal hatred. “The virus of communalism has entered the public mind of Kerala. This is a frightening reality,” they said.
An example of racial hatred
Writer and Gandhian thinker K. Aravindakshan said the Walayar incident was the second mob lynching in “so-called civilized Kerala” and described it as a stark example of racial hatred and social exclusion. Referring to a video that showed a mob attacking Ram Narayan asking if he was from Bangladesh, Mr. Aravindakshan said, “This is a clear case of Islamophobia spreading rapidly in Kerala and religious intolerance propagated by the Sangh Parivar.”
He added that the victim was a Dalit youth who had come to Kerala in search of work from Chhattisgarh, where Adivasis were often labeled as extremists and expelled. “That such a brutal killing could have happened here and only a handful of people spoke out against it is deeply disturbing. Kerala today seems to be a place where dialogue itself is impossible,” he said, criticizing the silence of civil society and prominent writers.
‘severe violence’
Thrissur Government Medical College Hospital doctor Hithesh Shankar, who conducted the autopsy, revealed the extreme brutality of the attack. There was not a single spot on Ram Narayana’s body that was uninjured – from the toes to the skull. His ribs were shattered, his spine was broken, and most of the injuries were from blows with sticks. He was beaten even after death, the doctor said. “I have performed more than 10,000 autopsies, but I have never seen a body subjected to such extreme violence.” The postmortem report stated that the cause of death was severe head trauma.
Human rights activist I. Gopinath described the killing as “an act of mob violence led by the Sangh Parivar, reflecting the growing Islamophobia in Kerala”. He said: “When a man who doesn’t even know the language is beaten to death, the most painful truth is that he may not even have understood why he was killed. This shows how the politics of hate works.”
Activists alleged that the authorities were trying to paint the Walayar incident as a common crime. “This is undoubtedly a mob lynching and should be recorded as such. Only then will Ram Narayan get justice,” they said, demanding that a special investigation team be constituted to probe the case.
They also condemned the police for allegedly collecting ambulance fees from the victim’s relatives when the body was brought from Walayar to Thrissur for post-mortem and asking the family to bear the cost of taking the body home. “The government should pay ₹25 crore as compensation and bear the cost of transporting the body to Chhattisgarh,” the activists insisted.
Ram Narayan, who is survived by his wife, two young children and mother, had arrived in Walayar a week earlier to look for work and met his cousin Sasikanth, a mason working in the area. According to Sasikanth, Ram Narayan was planning to return home as it was difficult for him to stay away from his family. “He left for the station on December 17. We came to know about his death only on December 18 when the Walayar police called me,” said Mr. Sasikanth, adding that the deceased had his name and address with him.
Rama Narayan’s wife, mother and children have since traveled from Chhattisgarh to Kerala. Human rights activists and family members have made it clear that they will not allow the body to be taken home unless the case is officially registered as a mob lynching and adequate compensation is announced, insisting that the state should take responsibility for both justice and dignity in the death.
Published – 20 Dec 2025 20:47 IST
