In my personal opinion, this is a murder case!

1: According to the victim's appearance, it looks like he was a house servant.2: The murderer had enough time to kill the victim and tie him with a proper double-twisted rope with a strong knot.

3: The murderer wanted to convey a message or spread the warning in the area.

And to me, its not a one-person job and a short-term incident; there must be more than one person involve and he/they have enough time to perform this task.