Man beaten to death by villagers in Tiruvallur for attacking elderly woman

The deceased remained unidentified till Wednesday evening and the woman he attacked, D Saraswathi (68) of Thozhudhavur village, was critical, said police.

Tiruvalangadu police have registered two separate cases - one against unidentified villagers for killing the man and the other against the deceased on the charges of attempted murder.

The incident happened on Tuesday afternoon when the man, who seemed mentally challenged according to the villagers, suddenly barged into the house of one D Arul Murugan of Mettu street in Tiruvalangadu. He allegedly begged for food and asked Arul Murugan to resolve all his problems. Perplexed Arul Murugan reportedly shooed him away since he had not seen the man in the locality.

An hour later, a woman noticed the mystery man attacking Arul Murugan's mother with a wooden log at her house a few metres away in the same street and alerted Arul Murugan.

While the man tried to flee, the villagers gathered and secured him. He was tied to an EB pole and beaten up by the angry villagers with rope and sticks. The man eventually collapsed and died on the spot.

Thozhudavur VAO Ravikumar alerted the police about the incident and they reached the spot and retrieved the body of the unidentified man.

Meanwhile, Arul Murugan rushed her mother Saraswathi to Tiruvallur Government Hospital where she has been undergoing treatment.

When contacted, Tiruttani DSP VV Sai Praneeth told DTNext that the deceased and Arul Murugan's family are in no way connected and he randomly attacked Saraswathi. "The residents of the village said that the mystery man was found roaming in Thozhudavur since morning and spoke in different languages," said the official.

Police are trying to establish the identity of the deceased and also those who attacked him.