HYDERABAD: An angry mob in southern India attacked two low-caste cousins who they suspected of slaughtering a cow, police said Wednesday, the latest such attack by self-styled protectors of the animals.
\nMokati Elisha and Mokati Venkateshwar Rao from India’s lowest Dalit caste were tied to a tree and beaten up on Wednesday by a mob of around 50 men when they were skinning a dead cow in a village in Andhra Pradesh state.
\n\u201cWhen a bunch of villagers saw Elisha and Venkateshwar skinning a cow, they assumed that they had slaughtered a live animal,\u201d local Deputy Superintendent of Police Lanka Ankaiah told AFP.
\n\u201cIn the spur of the moment, villagers got carried away by emotions and they beat up Elisha and Venkateshwar,\u201d he said, adding police had detained seven people so far.
\nCows are considered sacred by Hindus and killing them is banned in most Indian states, but the cousins said they were hired to skin the animal after it died of electrocution.
\nFormerly known as \u201cuntouchables,\u201d Dalits are commonly tasked with removing the corpses of dead cows from streets, where the animals often roam freely.
\nThe latest attack comes days after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged a halt to attacks on Dalits, who lie at the bottom of India’s deeply entrenched social hierarchy.
\nAnger has mounted among the Dalit community and violent protests have erupted over the public flogging of four villagers by cow-protection vigilantes late last month.
\nFootage showed the four half-naked Dalit men tied to a car as the activists took turns to thrash them with belts and batons at a crowded marketplace.
\nAfter Wednesday’s attack, police said both cousins were undergoing treatment at a nearby hospital, with Rao having lost his hearing in one ear.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
HYDERABAD: An angry mob in southern India attacked two low-caste cousins who they suspected of slaughtering a cow, police said Wednesday, the latest such attack by self-styled protectors of the animals. Mokati Elisha and Mokati Venkateshwar Rao from India’s lowest Dalit caste were tied to a tree and beaten up on Wednesday by a mob […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1065","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n