Mob lynches Muslim man over cow smuggling charges in India
NEW DELHI — A Muslim man was beaten to death by a mob in western India over allegations of smuggling cows, police said Saturday, despite calls by the country’s highest court for immediate steps to stop deadly mob violence across the country.
Cows are considered sacred in Hindu-majority India, and slaughtering them or eating beef is illegal or restricted across much of the country.
The mob intercepted two men on foot who were bringing two cows with them at around midnight Friday in a forested area in Alwar district of Rajasthan state and began punching and beating them with sticks, said police officer Mohan Singh. He said the men were taking the dairy animals to their village in neighbouring Haryana state.
One managed to escape while the other, a 28-year-old man, was taken to a hospital, where doctors declared him dead on arrival.