A Muslim man who was recently attacked by cow vigilantes in Alwar, Rajasthan, died of his injuries on Monday night, The Hindustan Timesreported today.
Pehlu Khan, 35, was among the 15 Muslims from Haryana's Nuh district who were attacked by cow vigilantes over suspicion that they were smuggling cows in Rajasthan. While some of the injured men are in hospital, others are in judicial custody.
In Rajasthan, the slaughter of bovine animals is punishable with imprisonment for a minimum of one year and a maximum of ten years. To possess, sell or transport any beef or beef products in the state is punishable with a minimum of six months in prison and a maximum of five years.
No one has been arrested for the attack on Saturday, which took place near the highway in the Jaguvas Bahror area of Alwar. "We have registered a case of murder against six persons and 200 unknown people," Ramesh Sinsinwar, the station house officer of Bahror, told HT.
Last year, hundreds of right-wing activists vandalized at least 40 Muslim homes in Raghunathgarh village of Alwar, where residents were suspected of slaughtering cows.
The attack on Saturday comes in the midst of a crackdown in several Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states over illegal cow slaughter. Taking cue from the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh, the governments in Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh have also initiated drives to shut down illegal slaughterhouses.
The Gujarat government recently made cow slaughter punishable with life imprisonment.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh recently said that those found guilty of slaughtering cows would be hanged.
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