The Man Who Was Kicked to Death () is a detective short story by Ecuadorian writer Pablo Palacio, published on April 26, 1926 in the magazine Hélice and a year later in the short story collection of the same name. It is one of Palacio's most notable works, as well as being the first Ecuadorian literary work to openly address the theme of homosexuality.
The work has been adapted for television, theater, and comics.
According to writer and literary critic Galo René Pérez, The Man Who Was Kicked to Death is one of the masterful narratives of Ecuadorian literature.
The narrator of the story learns through the local press about the murder of a man named Octavio RamÃÂrez who was described as "depraved." The narrator begins to infer the reasons behind the crime and comes to the conclusion that RamÃÂrez was murdered by the father of a teenager whom he attempted to seduce.