Opposition legislators protested in Kerala Assembly against the political killings and the lynching of an Adivasi man in the state for the third consecutive day on Wednesday.
Congress MLAs disrupted the Question Hour and walked out of the Assembly when Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan denied their request for a debate on the murders of Youth Congress worker Muhammad Shuhaib, Muslim League students’ wing worker Safeer and the Adivasi man Madhu. After this, the House was adjourned, reported The Indian Express.
The Opposition accused the ruling Left Democratic Front of using violence to eliminate its rivals. They also alleged that Madhu was lynched by a mob because of the government’s indifference to Adivasis.
During the session, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said Madhu’s lynching was an insult to the state, reported Manorama. Madhu was accused of stealing rice, and was brutally beaten up. He died on the way to hospital. The Kerala Police arrested 16 people in connection with Madhu’s murder on February 23 and charged them under the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
The Kerala government on Friday ordered a magisterial inquiry into the incident and announced an ex-gratia amount of Rs 10 lakh to his family. The Opposition members, however, demanded a judicial inquiry into the incident, according to Manorama.
The Kerala High Court on Tuesday registered a case suo motu in connection with Madhu’s lynching in the Attappady region, reported The Times of India. The court took the action after Kerala State Legal Services Authority chief K Surendra Mohan called it a shameful incident and sought the court’s intervention.
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