A 49-year-old man died after being beaten up by a mob for allegedly abusing a woman.
According to the police, the deceased was identified as Rafeeq, a native of Chemmanad here. The incident took place near a private hospital in Kasaragod on Saturday afternoon.
It is alleged that Rafeeq misbehaved with a woman, a resident of Kumbala, at a private hospital in the city.
The son of the woman was being treated at the hospital.
The woman was standing in front of the medical shop. Rafeeq who stood behind the woman, allegedly misbehaved. When she reacted and questioned him over his misbehaviour, he allegedly fled.
However, the young woman chased him. Drivers and others at a nearby auto stand saw this and joined the chase. They allegedly manhandled him after catching up with him.
Rafeeq, who was exhausted, was brought before the woman. However, he fell down unconscious.
The locals felt that Rafeeq was merely acting. But soon realising that he was not well, they rushed him to a nearby hospital, but he was pronounced brought dead.
‘No marks of torture’
The police have registered a case of unnatural death. There were no marks of torture on the body and if the cause of death was declared as torture in the post-mortem, a case of murder would be registered, the police said.
As soon as the incident took place, the police tried to check the CCTV footage of the hospital but the camera was not working. Rafeeq, who was in the Gulf, had returned home two years ago.
