4 Stripped, Tied to car, Beaten in Gujarat by alleged cow vigilantes

Mangalore Today News Network

Ahmedabad July 12, 2016 :  Four young men were stripped, tied to a car and thrashed by vigilantes in Gujarat on the suspicion that they were trading illegally in cow skin. Three of the attackers have been arrested after footage of the assault, which they had uploaded online as a warning, went viral.

 

The attackers are seen aggressively confronting and interrogating the men, who were tannery workers carrying animal hide. The incident took place on Monday in Gir Somnath, about 400 km from Ahmedabad.

"Where did you get the cow skin?" one of the attackers was heard demanding in the video. The workers tried desperately to explain that they got the hide legally and not from villagers who had slaughtered any cow.

After the third degree, the attackers are seen tying up the men to the car and thrashing them brutally on their naked back.

Early this morning, the attackers allegedly uploaded the video online as a warning. The footage was widely shared and helped the police zero in on the accused. Two of them are still missing.

A man who claims to be a member of the BJP ally Shiv Sena claimed that cow meat was found on the men.

"We had information that a few people were slaughtering cows and eating beef. We have informed the police and they will conduct further inquiry," said Sena leader Ramesh Goswami.

Attacks linked to cow slaughter were at the centre of a debate last year on intolerance, with activists and opposition parties accusing the government of encouraging fringe groups with a radical ideology.

In September, a Muslim man was lynched in Uttar Pradesh’s Dadri over rumours that he had beef in his house. Amid outrage over the incident, "cow protection groups" became proactive in many states.