CHENNAI: In a worrying in incident of mob justice that is rare in Tamil Nadu, a 35-year-old guest worker was beaten to death by a violent mob at a village near Periyapalayam in neighbouring Tiruvallur district on Friday. Police are investigating the circumstances that led to the murder.
Villagers claimed that the victim misbehaved with a woman in the village in an inebriated state. When the members of the public questioned him, he allegedly began attacking them, which led to a retaliatory attack that resulted in his death.
The deceased was identified as Prasenjit Das (35), a native of Assam. He was part of a group hired by a manpower agency and had reached Tamil Nadu a few days ago. The group was staying at Amanapakkam village.
According to officials, the group of workers consumed alcohol on Friday. After drinking, they went on a walk to explore the area. When they reached a nearby village, RR Kandigai, one of them allegedly demanded water from a woman in one of the houses. However, realising that they were all in an inebriated state, the woman immediately alerted her family members.
Soon, a group of villagers gathered at the scene, surrounded the ‘outsiders’ and began questioning them. This soon led to an argument between the group and the local villagers, and the latter rounded up Prasenjit, who was part of the group. Officials said they assaulted the guest worker, following which he fell unconscious.
After receiving an alert about tension in the area, officials rushed to the spot and moved the injured man to a hospital, where he was declared as brought dead. The Vengal police have registered a case and are investigating.