A 27-year-old tribal man was beaten to death by a mob which accused him of theft in Kerala’s Palakkad district on Thursday night.

The incident at Attappady triggered massive outrage across the state after pictures and videos on social media showed some locals happily taking selfies while the man was tied to a post and being beaten up.

Police said Madhu, the tribal, was apprehended by a mob which accused him of theft from nearby shops and beat him up after tying him to a post.

Later, he was handed over to the police. On the way to the police station, he reportedly collapsed and died. Police have arrested three people in connection with the case.

A video of the attack on the man wearing a lungi was doing the rounds on social media. One of the pictures on internet showed that while a man was holding a big stick questioning Madhu, another took a selfie, smiling, triggering outrage in the state.

The incident at Attappady triggered massive outrage across the state after pictures and videos on social media showed some locals happily taking selfies while the man was tied to a post and being beaten up. Tribal activists said they informed the police, but they came very late.

Tribal activist Dhanya Raman said Madhu was suffering from mental ailment and he used to roam around the area for more than a year. However, Agali police said Madhu was involved in three cases of thefts and he was caught-red handed while stealing from a shop.

Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan condemned the killing, saying a civilised society cannot tolerate such heinous acts.

“It is heinous crime. A civilised society can’t tolerate such an act. The government will take strict action against the guilty,” the chief minister said in a Facebook post.

DGP Lokanth Behra said a special investigation team will be formed to probe the case and action will be taken against the erring police officers.