Koppam (Pattambi): In a grisly incident, a youth was allegedly beaten to death by his cousin for being late in feeding the latter’s pet dog.

The victim was Arshad (21), son of Abdul Salam and Ayisha who reside at Perumbrathody, Mulayankavu in Palakkad district of Kerala.

The police arrested Hakeem (27) of Palappuzha, Mulayankavu soon after the incident.

Arshad and Hakeem lived at a rented house at Athani in Mannengode, also in Palakkad district.

Arshad was brought to a private hospital at Vaniyankulam on Friday morning by Hakeem, who told doctors that he had fallen from the roof of their house.

But as Arshad had over one hundred injury marks on his body, the doctors became suspicious and the hospital authorities informed the Koppam police station.

Despite treatment, Arshad succumbed to his injuries by Friday afternoon.

Internal bleeding was the cause of death. As per medical opinion, the injury marks on Arshad’s body could be caused only by beating with a belt and some wooden object.

The police took Hakeem into custody on Friday evening. He was questioned and the arrest was recorded by Saturday evening.

Brutal crime
According to the police, cousins Arshad and Hakeem were engaged in doing cable works for a private mobile telecom company.

They stayed at a rented house in Athani where Hakeem used to regularly thrash Arshad for no reason.

On Thursday, the beatings started over Arshad’s delay in feeding Hakeem’s pet dog.

Hakeem flogged Arshad with the dog’s belt as well as a piece of wood, said the police.

On receiving the blows, Arshad fell on the floor and Hakeem kicked on his back, fracturing his ribs.

The beatings also caused internal bleeding, leading to death.

Later on Saturday, the police took Hakeem to the rented house to collect evidence.

The case is being investigated by a team led by Sub-Inspector, Koppam M B Rajesh. District Police Chief of Palakkad R Viswanath and Shoranur Deputy Superintendent of Police V Suresh also examined the crime scene.