Two Muslim men were beaten and paraded through a busy area by the Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain police recently on allegations of cow slaughter.
Several videos of the police beating the men – Salim Mewati and Aaqib Mewati – have gone viral on social media platforms.
During the parade, the two men were forced to chant, “Gau hamari matha hai, police hamara baap hai”, which loosely translates to “Cow is our mother and police is our father.”
In one of the videos, a police officer asks Salim and Aaqib why they were paraded, to which the men replied that they were involved in the business of cow slaughtering.
The two Muslim men were paraded for almost a kilometer before being taken to the police station.
According to the Ujjain additional superintendent of police (ASP) Nitesh Bhargav, a tip-off was received on March 16 regarding cow slaughter being conducted in the Ghatiya area of Ujjain. “As soon as we got the information, the police took action and seized the culprit’s vehicle, mobile phones and the cow meat. Two individuals were arrested, while a third suspect remains at large. Teams have been formed to apprehend the third accused,” the ASP said in a video byte.
The senior official also said that both Salim and Aaqib are serial offenders. “Salim has 24 cases registered against him and Aaqib has four,” the ASP added.
Last year in June, Madhya Pradesh chief minister Mohan Yadav said his government’s continuous monitoring of cow slaughter cases has saved more than 7,000 cows in the past month.
“All districts have received clear instructions regarding the enforcement of these laws. Any individual found guilty of violating the cow slaughter prohibition will face stringent penalties. We are also supervising the enforcement actions at the state level,” he told reporters.
More than 550 cases (related to law prohibiting cow slaughter) had been registered within the month of July, 2024, resulting in the saving of over 7,000 cows.
“We have taken action against hundreds involved in such activities, and our efforts will continue unabated,” the Madhya Pradesh chief minister said.
