India Tomorrow
New Delhi, April 15— Civil and human rights activists held a protest demonstration at the Jharkhand Bhawan in New Delhi on Monday over the lynching of a tribal man over suspicion of cow slaughter in Jharkhand’s Gumla district on Wednesday (April 10).
Shouting slogans against the BJP government of Jharkhand, activists from rights groups – United Against Hate, United Christian Forum, Socialist Yuvajan Sabha, Bhagat Singh Ambedkar Students Organization, Movement for Education & Empowerment for Masses – blamed the central BJP government for the rise in incidents of lynching in the name of cow slaughter and beef consumption.
According to the police, a group of people from Jairagi village spotted four people cutting a dead bull at Jurum village under Dumri police station on Wednesday night. Suspecting the animal to be a cow, the villagers surrounded the four men and started thrashing them.
All four, who were seriously injured, were later taken to the police station, where the condition of one, identified as Prakash Lakra, 55, deteriorated.
They were rushed to a local hospital, where Lakra succumbed to his injuries. The three injured persons have been identified as Peter Kerketta (50), Janwarius Minz (42) and Baliyusis Tirkey (60).
DIG Amol V. Homkar has constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the incident, but no arrests have been made so far.
Activists alleged that those assaulted by the mob of cow vigilantes were themselves booked by the police.
In the last five years, more than 60 people have been killed by mobs in different parts of the country over suspicion of cow slaughter, cow smuggling or beef consumption.
–With Inputs From IANS
