With the recent lynching of two men in Bengal over the suspicion of stealing cows, the state’s count of such killings has risen to five persons this year, making it the deadliest state for bovine-related violence in 2017 till date, shows an IndiaSpend database that records such violence.

As of 31 August 2017, Bengal accounted for 55 percent – or five of nine – deaths recorded in bovine-related attacks reported across India, our database shows. With six deaths recorded since 2010, Bengal is now on a par with Uttar Pradesh, which recorded as many deaths in 12 incidents of such violence over eight years. In this same period, Bengal has reported three incidents – all of which reported fatalities.