15-year-old boy beaten to death in Karur

Police arrest four of the five accused

A 15-year-old boy was lynched by five persons, who accused him of stealing from a couple of houses at Allaligoundanur in Karur on Saturday.

The police said P. Balasubramani, the deceased, was living with his mother, a farm worker. After the death of his father a year ago, the boy had dropped out of school and allegedly started drinking. He was suspected of stealing ₹3,000 from a house and a mobile phone from another house on Saturday.

On seeing him use the stolen phone, a group of villagers thrashed him. They forced his mother to leave and beat him till he fell unconscious. The boy’s mother found him dead on Sunday. Four of the five accused have been arrested.