A Jharkhand government school’s principal Rosa Hansda and her relative Birju Hansda were arrested in the state’s Pakur district on Saturday for allegedly cooking beef at the school premises, thereby injuring the religious beliefs of some, reported Hindustan Times.
The report claims that Birju was apparently responsible for providing the meat.
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TOI reported that the duo was sent to a 14-day judicial custody on Saturday, following their appearance at chief judicial magistrate’s court. Pakur district’s Deputy Commissioner Dilip Kumar Jha told HT that the meat had been sent to the lab to determine its source and added that he felt it “was not mutton for sure.”
Based on complaints by some students from the school on Friday, the principal was arrested. The allegation leveled against her was that she was cooking beef in the kitchen used to prepare the students’ mid-day meals.
Following the students’ complaints, a team of circle officers and policemen had been sent to the school at Malpahadi, about 400 km from the state capital Ranchi, to investigate the matter. According to the HT report, the DC claimed that a prima facie case could be made based on the students’ testimony.
According to the Pakur Superintendent of Police Shailendra Barnwal, the meat was for the accused’s “personal consumption.”
As per the state’s Prevention of Cow Slaughter Ordinance, 2005, which later became an Act, the punishment for the offence includes either a fine of Rs 5,000 and a jail term of up to five years, or both.
Several parts of Jharkhand, especially Dhanbad and Giridih, have recently witnessed much outrage by Hindu right-wing groups, who have demanded a total ban on beef.
(With inputs from HT and TOI)
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