Tags:
Journalism of Courage
CHENNAI, April 26: In a gory incident, a suspected AIDS-afflicted youth was beaten up for over half-an-hour and finally burnt alive by a n over 200-strong mob on the Poonamallee bypass road, about 25 kms away from Chennai, in broad daylight on Sunday even as two constables watched helplessly.
The incident took place around 2.30 pm on the Chennai-Bangalore highway with the villagers of neighbouring Chenneerkuppam first tying the unidentified man in his 20s to a tree and thrashing him black and blue. Then one of the villagers suggested that the T-shirts and shorts-clad victim be burnt to prevent the spread of infection from the blood. Immediately, a few of the villagers brought diesel drawn from a stranded truck on the highway and poured it on the man and set him afire. And there was no squeal of pain, not even a wince as he was slowly charred to death. When his body was completely roasted, the Fire Service vehicle descended on the scene and directed the hose pipes at him. By then, everything was over. Onlythe roasted body remained.
The villagers claimed the man along with two of his companions had been threatening to poke people with a syringe containing AIDS-infected blood.
