Thiruvananthapuram: Spearheading a protest against the mob lynching of tribal youth Madhu, BJP state chief Kummanam Rajasekharan on Saturday posted a picture of himself with his hands tied up with a cloth.
Kummanam's appearance resembled Madhu who was also tied up and brutally assaulted for allegedly stealing from a shop in Agali on Thursday. The photo posted on Kummanam's official Twitter handle was captioned: 'En route Attappady Tribal Village. Please join and pledge your support for #IsupportKeralaAdivasis'.
Unleashing an attack on the ruling CPM-led LDF government in Kerala, the BJP leader said, "#KeralaModel ' is a failure at uplift of downtrodden, Dalits and Adivasis. Even women and children are totally unsafe. Both Congress & Communist fronts with their several decades of rule are responsible for this.”
Madhu, who was said to be mentally unsound, was living in a cave in the forest for the past several months.
His mother and sister told television channels that a group of nearly 10-15 persons went to the forest and thrashed him.
"After being beaten up, Madhu was made to walk over four km with a heavy sack on his back," they alleged. When he asked for water, he was mocked at, they alleged, quoting eye-witnesses.
They also alleged that some forest officials had allowed the local people to go to the area and attack the tribal.
The opposition Congress and BJP observed hartal at Mannarkkad taluk on Saturday. The shops downed shutters, though no untoward incident was reported.