The Supreme Court said on Friday that it will look into the various cases of cow vigilantism across states in India. These actions would be taken in response to various Public Interest Litigations (PILs) filed by political leaders and activists in High Courts in several states.
According to a report by The Indian Express, Congress leader Tehseen S Poonawalla filed one of these PILs in the Supreme Court earlier this year in August.
Violence in the name of cow vigilantism started with the mob lynching of 52-year-old Mohammad Akhlaq in UP’s Dadri over alleged consumption of beef.
In another incident of cow vigilantism, four young Dalit men were thrashed in front of a crowd in Una, Gujarat by self-styled cow vigilantes in an attack in July.
Following the brutal assault, Dalits dumped cow carcasses in government offices, asking ‘Gau Rakshak’ groups to dispose of the dead cows — a traditionally Dalit occupation.
The incident caused an uproar in both Houses of the Parliament and in the meetings that followed soon after.
(With inputs from Ani and The Indian Express.)
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