A 50-year-old man accused of stealing utensils from a home in Thiruvananthapuram has died at a hospital after he was brutally beaten up by local people who later handed him over to police.

Some locals had caught Chandran while he was allegedly making away with the suspected loot from a house in Perunguzhi in Thiruvananthapuram last week. A video clip of the assault that surfaced on Sunday showed Chandran tied to an electric pole and writhing in pain.

The police arrested and released him on station bail as it was a minor offence and the family from where Chandran allegedly stole the utensils did not lodge a complaint. But he developed severe stomach pain and was rushed to a local hospital where his condition worsened.

Chandran’s relative Sasikala told the police that he was taken to a primary health centre early last week. He is said to have ignored doctor’s advice to seek further treatment at the medical college hospital in the state capital.

His condition worsened on Thursday and he was rushed to the medical college hospital. Doctors diagnosed a large bulge in his stomach, suspected to be the result of internal injuries, and operated on him. He died late on Saturday.