Actor Mammootty has written a touching Facebook post on the alleged mob lynching of Madhu in Attappadi. The actor said no one should address Madhu as a tribal.
"I will say that people killed my brother. None should call anyone a thief, if he does it to eat, as poverty is the creation of society," Mammootty said.
The actor also said as a human being it was unacceptable to justify an attack on humanity. He ended the post with an apology to Madhu.
The 27-year-old Adivasi youth, who was said to be 'not of sound mind,' was beaten to death by a lynch mob which had accused him of theft, according to the victim's mother.
The turn of events on Thursday elicited strong response from across the state and country on Friday after a perpetrator posted a selfie taken just minutes before the crime.
Highlighting the police action, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan in his Facebook post said: "I have instructed the state DGP to speed up the probe and take strict action in the case."
"This heinous act is a blot on Kerala's progressive society. But I want to promise you that strict action will be taken at the earliest against all the culprits to ensure that such crimes, especially against people from communities that were long marginalized, are not repeated.
"Kerala as a whole should stay extremely vigilant to ensure that we continue to progress as a caring, cosmopolitan society," added Vijayan.
The chief minister's response was also prompted by a large number of twitter followers putting up messages like: "@CMOKerala... please take urgent action on this matter and bring the culprits in front of justice."
It was only after actor-director Joy Mathew had posted the visuals on social media that various political leaders, including Pinarayi, condemned the incident, early on Friday.
"This is some sort of a fascist Malayali psyche which has developed recently and has to be tackled. If the police wish to arrest me for sharing this video on social media, let them do that," said Mathew.
The local tribal community are up in arms and have demanded that if the people behind the incident were not arrested, they would launch a protest and commenced the first round by staging a march in the locality.
Madhu's body has been taken for an autopsy to the Thrissur Medical College hospital and would then be brought to the village.
Read: Latest Kerala News | Kerala govt sets up magisterial-level probe into Attappadi mob lynching