Tribals Thrashed over Suspicion of Cow Slaughter in Jharkhand
Kullu further added that he heard the mob making objectionable casteist remarks at his sister Rosalin Kullu.
In Jharkhand’s Simdega district, which is about 145 km from Ranchi, seven tribals were allegedly thrashed brutally and forced to chant "Jai Shri Ram”, on suspicion of slaughtering a cow at Ambera Toli of Bherikudar village.
The victims allege that a group of 60-70 people thrashed them on the early morning of 16 September. The next day, the wife of one of the victims – Raj Singh Kullu – lodged a complaint at the Simdega police station, but the matter came to fore on 25 September.
26-year-old Deepak Kullu told The Quint that “on the morning of 16 September, a group of about 50 people, armed with sticks from the neighbouring village, entered the courtyard of my house. I saw the mob beating my brother-in-law Raj Singh Kullu.”
Kullu further added that he heard the mob making objectionable casteist remarks at his sister Rosalin Kullu.
“When I questioned them, those people claimed that we are involved in cow slaughter. I told them that it doesn’t happen here, and they need to provide some proof to back their claims. They showed me a fake video in which few elderly were talking about cow slaughter. I told them that the video is fake, after which they started hitting us and made caste-based objectionable remarks,” Kullu told The Quint.
“My sister Rosalin Kullu lodged a complaint with Simdega police station,” Kullu said.
“They were chanting: if you slaughter cows, we will slaughter you,” Kullu claims.
Kullu also stated that the matter was immediately reported by the ward member to Simdega police station after which the police searched Kullu’s houses, but no trace of cow slaughter was found and all of them were released.
What Did the Police Say?
Ravindra Prasad Singh, officer-in-charge of Simdega police station, told The Quint that a case has been registered under the SC / ST Act and several sections of the Indian Penal Code.
A special investigation team led by DSP is conducting raids to arrest the remaining accused. Four of the nine accused named have been arrested.
“We searched the house and there were no traces of cow remains. No ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogans were raised. The victims did not suffer serious injuries, and none of them needed medical attention,” police alleges.
(This article was originally published in Hindi Quint)
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