Palakkad: The autopsy report of Ramanarayan Bhayar, a migrant worker who was killed in a mob lynching incident at Walayar, has revealed that he was brutally assaulted with a stick. According to the report, the 31-year-old sustained over 80 injuries from head to toe. It confirmed that he died due to severe assault and bleeding from head injuries. The report also noted the presence of internal bleeding.

With the post-mortem report confirming the cause of death, the police will slap murder charges against the five persons who were arrested on Thursday.

The State Human Rights Commission registered a suo motu case and ordered a probe. The commission ordered the Palakkad district police chief to conduct a probe and submit a report within three weeks. 

It was on December 17 that a group of local residents at the Attappalam area questioned and assaulted Bhayar, a native of Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh, accusing him of theft. Though the migrant worker was intoxicated, police said he had not stolen anything.

Following the brutal assault, the victim collapsed after vomiting blood and was abandoned on the road for nearly four hours. Though police later took him to a nearby hospital, he succumbed to his injuries.

Police had taken around 10 people into custody after visuals of the brutal assault surfaced. Of them, the arrest of five was recorded on Thursday.

It is learnt that Ramanarayan Bhayar, a construction site worker, met with the tragedy while preparing to return home. According to his relatives, he reached the Attappalath area after getting lost. They added that he was neither a troublemaker nor mentally challenged. He is survived by two children aged eight and 10.

The incident has revived memories of a similar case in 2018, when Madhu, a tribal youth from the Kadukumanna tribal settlement near Mukkali in Attappady, was lynched to death by a mob. Madhu, who had mental health issues, was tied up and brutally beaten after being accused of theft. Disturbing visuals of the assault later surfaced, and 13 of the 14 accused in the case were sentenced to seven years of rigorous imprisonment and fined ₹1 lakh each.