Number of stray cows in India has risen sharply as farmers abandon old and sick cows instead of selling them for slaughter due to fear of prosecution or violence. PHOTO COURTESY: HRW/FILE
In yet another incident of increasing intolerance and lawlessness under Prime Minister Natrendra Modi's government in India, two people were beaten to death by a mob over suspicion of stealing cows.
The victims, identified as Prakash Das and Rabiul Islam — both of them in their 30’s — were stopped by the locals in West Bengal state's Cooch Behar district, apparently because their vehicle had no number plate, Hindustan Times reported.
On finding two cows on the back of the truck, the angry mob thrashed the suspects to death, as well as, set their van on fire.
Incidents of cow vigilante are on the rise and such groups have become emboldened since Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swept to power in 2014.
After arriving at the scene, police took Das and Islam to the Cooch Behar Medical College and Hospital, where they were pronounced dead.
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Thirteen people were arrested for the lynching, according to Santosh Nimbalkar, Cooch Behar Superintendent of Police (SP).
“While probing the background of the two men, we found that they were cattle lifters,” he claimed.
Aside from the violence, which is mostly directed at India’s minority Muslim community and low-caste Dalits, the number of stray cows in India has also risen sharply. This is because the fear of prosecution or violence has led to farmers abandoning old and sick cows instead of selling them for slaughter.
According to the report, tens of thousands of cattle are estimated to be smuggled to Bangladesh every year through the porous 2,216-km India-Bangladesh border in West Bengal.
Last year a top minister in Modi’s cabinet was criticised for celebrating eight people convicted of lynching a Muslim cattle trader after they were released on bail.
This article originally appeared in Hindustan Times
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