As reported in the Indian Express, on May 22, Taufik, Anjum Shama and Dilip Malviya were arrested under the anti-cow slaughter act and sent to judicial custody after the cow vigilantes informed the police that they were allegedly carrying the meat in an autorickshaw and a two-wheeler from Khairi village.
Reportedly, the two men were tied to the tree and brutally beaten, later one of them ordered to hit the woman, his wife, with his slippers. They were also forced to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram.’
Strikingly, the accused continued to roam free, until the video of the outrageous incident went viral on social media. In fact, the police wasn’t even aware about the incident until yesterday! After one of the relatives of the victims saw the video, he registered an FIR against the five accused, which put the police into action.
The accused have been recognized as- Shubham Baghel, Yogesh Uikey, Deepesh Namdev, Rohit Yadav and Shyam Dehriya. According to the Dunda Seoni police station incharge Ganpat, all five accused have been arrested and booked under Indian Penal Code sections 143, 148, 149, 341, 294, 323 and 506 and also section 25 of the Arms Act.
Notably, one of the accused, Shubham Baghel, is a habitual offender and was seen campaigning for Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Bhopal candidate and 2008 Malegaon blast accused Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur. Reportedly, Baghel belongs to an organisation called Shriram Sena and he had been externed last year.
BJP, the right-wing Hindutva party, has won 28 of the 29 LS seats. In the past five years, incidents of mob lynching and cow vigilantism have been on a rise with the government not even acknowledging the brutality of such incidents. Instead, it has been quick in arresting the victims under the anti-cow slaughter act!
With a massive landslide victory for the BJP in 2019, there is a justifiable fear of minorities constantly staying under threat. Unfortunately, it seems like a new India in making!
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