Jharkhand: Differently abled man killed, two injured in mob-lynching over cowslaughter     

Three people, one of whom was differently-abled, were assaulted by a mob on the suspicion of slaughtering a cow on Sunday, when the villagers allegedly saw them carving out meat from a carcass. More than ten people gathered and attacked the three men at 10 AM in the morning. The police reached there as soon as they received a call and the victims were rushed to the hospital.

Kalantus Barla, Philip Horo and Phagu Kachchap of Jaltand Suari village, Khunti district were attacked, on the suspicion of selling cow meat, which is prohibited in Jharkhand revealed a preliminary investigation. Barla, who was differently abled, was found dead on the arrival at the hospital due to grievous injuries. Horo and Kachchap are now stable, reports The Telegraph. The DIG said to The Indian Express that no arrests have been made as yet because the sequence of the entire incident is not clear as of now, and that some people were detained for investigating.

Cow slaughter and beef sale are not allowed in Jharkhand under the Jharkhand Bovine Animal Prohibition of Slaughter Act. Jharkhand in the last few years has emerged as the place with the maximum incidents of lynching; with 17 of the 44 deaths caused by lynching between May 2015 and December 2018. Most of the lynchings in the state were related to suspected cow slaughter or beef possession, reported The Telegraph.

In September alone, mire than three fold increase has been reported in such incidents. A 70-year-old man, was killed because he was suspected to be a child-lifter; and on September 3, in Ramgarh a man in his 40s was lynched by over 50 people, he succumbed to his injuries on the way to a hospital. On September 6, similar rumours took the life of a man in Kagti Pahari village of Dhanbad, said The Indian Express.