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India police say 15 charged in lynching over beef rumours

Mohammad Akhlaq was dragged from his house in Bisada village in UP state and beaten to death by around 100 people

Afp December 23, 2015

Mohammad Akhlaq’s relatives mourn his death in the Bisara village of Uttar Pradesh. PHOTO: AFP

LUCKNOW: Indian police Wednesday formally charged 15 suspects over the mob murder of a Muslim man suspected of eating beef in late September, a case that sparked an outcry over communal intolerance.

Mohammad Akhlaq, 50, was dragged from his house in Bisada village in Uttar Pradesh state and beaten to death by around 100 people over rumours he had eaten beef - a taboo in the Hindu-majority nation.

Beef is to India what blasphemy is to Pakistan

"We have filed a charge sheet against 15 persons... it is a case of murder," additional director general of police in Uttar Pradesh, Daljeet Chaudhary, told AFP.

The group included a 17-year-old juvenile, he added.

The case fuelled concerns that religious intolerance may be growing under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party government.

Where’s the beef?

While Modi did eventually describe the lynching as "unfortunate", many commentators pointed out that it took the prime minister several weeks to respond.

Killing cows is banned in many states of India, where the majority of the population is Hindu but which is also home to sizeable Muslim, Christian and Buddhist minorities.

COMMENTS (5)

Hameed | 8 years ago | Reply @ajeet:

This is nothing compared to what minorities go through in Muslim nations.

This was a cold blooded murder with no condemnation from the government. How much worse can it get?

Apoorv Swarup | 8 years ago | Reply At least justice is being meted out and the rule of law being upheld. Crimes, sometimes even horrific ones, are bound to statistically occur in a country with a population as large as India. The fact that the police and judiciary work appropriately in such cases is of extreme import.

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ajeet | 8 years ago | Reply This is nothing compared to what minorities go through in Muslim nations.

orissa_boy | 8 years ago | Reply @John_B could you tell why orissa need education ? Do you know christians crossed muslims as second largest community in orissa few years back because of rampant institutionalized conversion purely by money. The number of cases of violence by hindus against christians is similar to the number of cases of violence by christians against hindus. The number of churches have multiplied significantly on lands forcibly and illegally occupied. Just google (or see wikipedia) and you will get the data. I have no problem when someone converts by his / her own will. But this type of conversion by pushing money and hiding behind lenient Indian laws might be legal but will result in violence like this. BTW are evangelical groups allowed to do this in Pakistan ? If not, then you first need an education rather than someone in Orissa.

John B | 8 years ago | Reply UP, Bihar and Orissa need some serious education.

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