Eleven men were part of mob that attacked Alimuddin Ansari, who was transporting beef

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Eleven cow protection vigilantes in the Indian state of Jharkhand have been sentenced to life in prison for killing a Muslim man who was transporting beef.

They are thought to be the first people convicted for violence in the name of the cow.

The men, including a district media officer for the ruling Bharatiya Janata party, were convicted of murder and criminal conspiracy offences by a fast-track court on Wednesday.



On the morning of 29 June 2017, the men were part of a mob that pulled Alimuddin Ansari from his vehicle, beat him to death and then set the car on fire. Videos of the crime showed the men thrashing Ansari with pieces of meat while the car burned nearby.

Extremist Hindu groups, many of which claim to be affiliated with Bharatiya Janata, have been implicated in a wave of attacks on Muslims and low-caste Hindus carried out in the name of the cow, which many Hindus regard as sacred.

At least 38 such attacks took place last year, killing 10 people, according to Human Rights Watch.

On patrol with the Hindu vigilantes who would kill to protect India's cows Read more

Days before the attack on Ansari, another man in Jharkhand was reportedly beaten and had his house torched after a cow carcass was found near his home. Four Muslim men were killed in another village in the state in May.

Police are often accused of condoning or ignoring cow vigilantism, in many cases charging the victims with cow smuggling or illegal slaughter.

On the day Ansari was killed, the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, made a speech calling cow vigilantism unacceptable. “No one has the right to take the law into his or her hands,” he said. “We belong to a land of non-violence. Violence is not the solution to any problem.”

Ansari’s wife, Mariam Khatun, told journalists outside the court that she mourned her husband but “did not want more bloodshed”. His son, Shahzad Ansari, told the Guardian he was “happy the court has taken the right decision”.

“My father was not doing anything wrong,” he said. “Nobody should take the law into their hands.”