A tribal youth was brutally stripped, tied to an electric post, and assaulted on May 24, 2025, in Attappadi. The youth said he was attacked by the driver and the cleaner of a milk van. It was around 4 p.m. Some of the attackers have been taken into custody. The victim is Shiju (19), from a tribal ooru (village) in Agali, Chittoor, Palakkad. The accused were nabbed in Coimbatore. He was beaten for allegedly jumping in front of their van. They even alleged that he had broken the windows of the vehicle.
Shiju was allegedly caught by the culprits, stripped of his clothes, and tied to an electric post for an hour. He was then beaten mercilessly. He sustained serious injuries and was therefore hospitalised. O.R. Kelu, Minister for the Welfare of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Backward Classes, stated that the police have been instructed to register the case. The police confirmed that a case has been registered against the driver and the cleaner of the van. The same people who attacked the tribal youth filmed the video of him tied up and shared it on social media. That is how news of the beating spread.
In a shocking display of lawlessness, a young tribal man named Shibu from the Chittoor Adivasi Colony in Agali was stripped, tied to a post, and brutally beaten for over an hour. The assault was carried out by a gang that arrived in a pickup van allegedly after accusing him of… pic.twitter.com/yQFKbIGQsT
— BJP FOR KERALA (@BJPForKerala) May 27, 2025
Six local people took Shiju to the Agali Social Health Centre at 5:30 p.m. on May 24. He returned home after receiving treatment. However, he experienced body pain and difficulty in eating, and hence returned to the Social Health Centre on Monday, May 26. From there, he was taken to the Kottathara Tribal Taluk Speciality Hospital for expert treatment. Reports suggest there are injuries to his eyes and body, clearly due to the assault.
Kerala BJP President Rajeev Chandrasekhar, on X, said, “The deep-seated prejudice of the police and the Chief Minister’s Office toward Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in Kerala was laid bare in the case of Bindu, a Dalit woman from Peroorkada, who was subjected to blatant and humiliating mistreatment very recently.”
The LDF government under @pinarayivijayan is the most anti-Tribal, anti-Dalit regime Kerala has ever seen. The brutal assault of Shiju, a tribal youth from Attappadi who was stripped, tied to an electric pole, and beaten, is just the latest in a string of atrocities.
It was also… pic.twitter.com/RREvdKcEk6
— Rajeev Chandrasekhar 🇮🇳 (@RajeevRC_X) May 28, 2025
Meanwhile, the Sub-Inspector of the Agali Police Station said that a complaint has been received against Shiju, stating that he had smashed five vehicles and was under the influence of liquor and cannabis.
The latest situation highlights the pitiable plight of the weaker sections in the state. Since the CPM-led Left Democratic Front (LDF), with Pinarayi Vijayan as the Chief Minister, came to power in 2016, it has been boasting that it stands for the weaker sections of society such as SC/STs, women, and children. But what we see is quite the opposite. It is too soon to forget the lynching of Madhu, another tribal youth, in Mukkali, again near Attappadi, in 2018.
