NEW DELHI – Indian police said Saturday one man was killed and threeinjured in an attack by a mob while they were skinning a dead ox, in thelatest case of so-called cow vigilantes.The animal is revered by Hindus and according to Human Rights Watch, 44people died in cow-related violence between May 2015 and December last yearby Hindu vigilantes.Opponents of Prime Minister Narendra Modi say that such groups have becomeemboldened since his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) sweptto power in 2014.
The latest incident happened in the eastern state of Jharkhand late onThursday when men from a local Christian community were skinning thecarcass of an ox in a field.
“The men were armed with iron rods and sticks and attacked the group ofskinners brutally,” said M L Meena, a senior Jharkhand police official.
The three men injured in the attack were sent to hospital. Two men havebeen arrested for alleged murder and five more were on the run, Meena said.
It was unclear whether the accused were part of a Hindu vigilante group oracted on their own initiative, he added, saying the four men attacked werefrom a local tribal group and had been charged with illegal cow slaughter.
Meena said the charges were based on a complaint by a Hindu villager whosaid he witnessed the slaughter of the ox.
“So far the investigation has showed the ox died naturally. We are doing athorough probe,” he said.
– Beef ban –
Cow slaughter and the consumption of beef is illegal in mineral-richJharkhand — and in 19 other states — but restricted slaughter of otherbovines like buffalo and ox is allowed.
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Modi, who is running for a second term in elections that began on Thursdayand run until May 19, has condemned cow-related violence.
Under his government, laws about cow slaughter are now applied morestrictly and punishments have increased.
In 2017 his government tried to ban the cattle trade for slaughternationwide, only for it to be rejected by the Supreme Court.
Aside from the violence, which is mostly directed at India’s minorityMuslim community and low-caste Dalits, the number of stray cows in Indiahas also risen sharply.
This is because the fear of prosecution or violence has led to farmersabandoning old and sick cows instead of selling them for slaughter.
Last year a top minister in Modi’s cabinet was criticised for celebratingeight people convicted of lynching a Muslim cattle trader after they werereleased on bail.
Last week a Muslim man was brutally assaulted by a mob in north easternAssam state over allegations he was selling beef. There is no prohibitionon cow slaughter or beef consumption in the state. -APP/AFP
