Moral policing in Kerala: Teacher ends life after being thrashed in front of family

Police in Kerala are investigating whether the alleged suicide of a noted artist and schoolteacher in Malappuram district was the result of moral policing.

Suresh Chaliyath was found hanging on Saturday morning. Chaliyath had been a regular figure at film festivals and was the art director for the 2018 movie Udalazham.

Chaliyath was a teacher at a government school in Malappuram. According to reports, Chaliyath was found hanging near his home in Vengara in Malappuram a day after at least six men entered his house and assaulted him.

The Indian Express reported the gang "humiliated and assaulted him in front of his wife and children, before dragging him to the house of the PTA president of the school where he worked".

P.R. Sreekumar, the headmaster of the school where Chaliyath taught, told The Indian Express the attack on Chaliyath may have been related to his interaction with a Muslim woman on social media.

"What seemed to have provoked the gang was that Suresh had a chat with a Muslim woman on a social media platform a few months back. The issue was over. However, on Friday afternoon, a gang went into his house and (conducted) a trial over the incident in front of his wife and children. The gang dragged Suresh out of his house and took away his mobile phone...," Sreekumar told The Indian Express.

K. Alavikutty, the president of the PTA, said Chaliyath was attacked by men belonging to the family of the husband of the Muslim woman he had chatted with.

Alavikutty told The Indian Express Chaliyath was "really upset over the humiliation".

The Times of India reported the Muslim woman in question was the mother of a student of Chaliyath. The Times of India report added Chaliyath had been assaulted on Thursday also.