Media reports said post-mortem revealed injuries on the head, bruises all over the body, broken ribs and internal bleeding. Kerala police have arrested 16 persons in connection with the killing of Madhu, a Kurumba tribe that is listed in the Scheduled Tribes list. What has outraged people across the country is that the mob that killed him took selfies even while it thrashed a hapless Madhu. The Union Home Ministry has sought a report from the Kerala Government on the lynching.

Non-governmental organisations working in tribal areas of Kerala point out that the lynching incident is not an isolated one. It is large part of a social issue in the State where tribal people are being discriminated, media reports said.

According to the National Crime Records Bureau, crimes against scheduled tribes increased over 10 per cent in 2016 (2017 data are not available yet) to 182 against 165 the previous year.