[Even if it was not mutton, why to kill a person for that? Because fascism is paving way to the capital to concentrate more.]
A 50-year-old man in northern India has been killed in a mob lynching allegedly over rumours that his family had been storing and consuming beef at home.
Mohammad Akhlaq was kicked and beaten with stones by a group of men in Dadri in Uttar Pradesh state on Monday night.
Mr Akhlaq’s 22-year-old son was also seriously injured in the attack, and has been admitted to a hospital.
Six people have been arrested in connection with the incident. Police are probing who spread the rumour.
Slaughter of cows is a sensitive issue in India as the animal is considered sacred by Hindus, who comprise 80% of the country’s 1.2bn people.
Uttar Pradesh is among a number of Indian states who have tightened laws banning cow slaughter and the sale and consumption of beef.
The beef ban has also provoked outrage with many questioning how the government decides what is on their plate.
Mr Akhlaq’s family said the family had stored mutton, and not beef in their fridge. The police have taken the meat and sent it for testing, reports said.
“Some locals spread rumours that Akhlaq had cow meat at his home and engaged in cow slaughter. Following the rumours, they attacked his home,” senior local official NP Singh told The Indian Express newspaper.
Senior police official Kiran S told the AFP news agency that the “announcement about the family consuming beef was made at a [local] temple”.
The incident happened in a village, barely 50km (31 miles) away from the Indian capital, Delhi, where Mr Akhlaq, a farm worker, lived with his family.
— source bbc.com
It was mutton, says slain man’s mother
Massive police and paramilitary deployment helped maintain an uneasy calm at Dadri’s Bishara village on Wednesday two days after Mohammad Akhlaq (50) was lynched and his son Danish (22) brutally beaten up for allegedly eating beef on Eid and ‘storing it’ for later consumption.
“ Humne koi chori nahin ki…bakre ka ghosht hi to tha (We did not steal anything…it was just mutton, after all),” said an inconsolable Asgari Begum, Akhlaq’s mother, before adding, “ P ehle maar daala phir use maiyyat se bhi mehroom kar diya (first they killed him, then they prevented his last rites too).”
There was a riot-like situation in the village, over 40 km from Noida, near Delhi, on Tuesday when the relatives were barred from the funeral procession. The lynching and brutal assault on Monday night followed an announcement from the Shiv Mandir that the family had slaughtered a cow and were eating beef since Eid. “Look what they did to my son and grandson after that,” Asghari said, holding up a bloodied shirt. Six men have been arrested so far.
— source thehindu.com