Suspected cow smuggler killed by mob 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 neighboring Haryana state.

One managed to escape while the other man, 28, was taken to a hospital, where doctors declared him dead on arrival.

Singh said police got a tip about the attack and immediately reached the area. “However, the attackers fled as they saw us approaching, leaving behind the injured man and two cows,” he said.

He said police could not verify the allegation that the men were smuggling cows.

In a similar case last year in the same district, a Muslim man was killed and 14 others brutally beaten after being accused of bringing cows for slaughter. The men had bought the animals at a cattle fair and were taking them home in Haryana state.

India has seen a series of mob attacks on minority groups since the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party swept national elections in 2014. Most of the attacks by so-called cow vigilantes from Hindu groups have targeted Muslims, who make up 14 percent of India’s 1.3 billion people. Hindus make up about 80 percent of the population.

In the past few years, the vigilante groups, who call themselves cow protectors, have become active in small towns and cities across India.