Police arrested 11 people on Monday in connection to the lynching after the victim’s family showed them the video of the incident that was already spreading rapidly online. The disturbing 10-minute-long clip shows 24-year-old Tabrez Ansari being beaten with sticks by at least a dozen people while tied to a pole.
The mob also forced Mr Ansari to shout “Jai Shri Ram” — Hail Lord Ram — a slogan widely used by Hindu hardliners.
Ansari was allegedly caught by civilians during an attempted robbery in Jharkhand, a state in eastern India, at which point a mob formed to take measures into their own hands.
After forcing Ansari to reveal his name, the assailants demanded that he repeat the phrase “Jai Shri Ram” (Hail Lord Ram), which has recently come to be associated with Hindu nationalist movements. The abuse was carried out in the open; people can be heard laughing in the background and children are present at the scene.
Mr Ansari died in hospital on Saturday, four days after he was attacked, tied to a pole, then beaten and punched over accusations that he carried out a burglary in Jharkhand state.
The mob killing was captured on a video, which has gone viral since the victim died.
“We have arrested the main accused for the murder, but a dozen people from the mob are on the run,” Seraikela Police Chief Kartik S said.
The Police Chief said villagers accused the 24-year-old victim of being a thief and beat him for nearly 12 hours.
Mr Ansari was first taken into custody before he was later transported to hospital.
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News of his death emerged as India’s Government rejected a US State Department report that said religious intolerance and violence against minorities had spiked under right-wing Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The US religious freedom report said there had been an increase in attacks by groups claiming to protect cows — considered sacred by Hindus — on Muslims and low-caste Dalits since 2014, when Mr Modi came to power.
Dozens of people have been killed by Hindu groups over the past five years over allegations that they had slaughtered cows or eaten beef. Experts said the landslide election win in 2014 by Modi’s conservative Bharatiya Janata Party had emboldened Hindus hardliners.
The BJP won an even bigger majority in May leading to fears of more communal violence. Critics have accused Modi government of turning a blind eye to vigilante attacks on minority Muslims in the name of cow protection.
Modi has called the deaths “unacceptable” and called the mobs “anti-social” in his rare comments on the cases. Slaughtering cows is illegal in many Indian states and some require a license to transport them across state borders.
