The Allahabad High Court granted immunity from arrest on cow slaughter charges to six family members of Mohammad Akhlaq, whose mob lynching in Uttar Pradesh last year on suspicions of beef consumption triggered nationwide outrage.
The family had moved the high court after a Noida court had asked the Uttar Pradesh Police to file a case against them in July, following a petition filed by villagers who claimed they had seen Akhlaq’s brother Jaan Mohammad slitting a calf’s throat.
Mohammed Akhlaq’s family had moved the Allahabad High Court against a recent session court order directing a police case be filed against them for storing and consuming beef.
Akhlaq’s Mother, wife, daughter and sons were made accused in FIR after session court’s order.
Akhlaq’s family says it is being framed into a false case and they neither consumed beef nor stored cow meat in their house.
The cow slaughter charges have triggered tensions in the area, roughly six months before the state goes to the polls.
National President of Rashtriya Ulama Council, Maulana Amir Rashidi Madni alleged that evidences in the infamous Dadri lynching case were “tampered” and raised questions over reports of Dadri and Mathura lab reports on the sample of meat sent for examination. “First of all, the meat recovered was more than 150 metres away from Akhlaq’s house,” he said.
In June, a Mahapanchayat was also held in the area, justifying the murder of Akhlaq in the name of cow protection and demanding strict action agains his family. The Panchayat said that Akhlaq and his family had insulted the Hindus and broken the law by killing the calf.
A mob had lynched 52-year-old Mohammad Akhlaq and injured his son Danish after dragging them out of their home in Bisahda on 28 September, 2015, following rumours they had slaughtered a cow and consumed beef. A total of 19 persons were accused in the case.
