India struggles with religious lynchings
A cow-related lynching in the state of Jharkhand was not prosecuted by police and went unnoticed by the public. The incident has become a symbol of the Indian government's inept handling of religious hate crimes
Over the last five years, India has seen an outbreak of religious hate crimes, with an average of one happening every week. Many of them have drawn mass protests, social media outrage, hashtags and even a response from the government.
But one particularly heinous case has fallen through the cracks and has drawn little attention and outrage, despite the brutality and injustice experienced by the victims.
In April this year, 55-year-old Prakash Lakda, a member of a Christian tribe, was lynched by a mob of Hindu villagers who suspected him of slaughtering a cow in the central Indian state of Jharkhand. Three other tribals from his village were also attacked, leaving them grievously injured.
Read more: How India's sacred cows are creating havoc on the streets
Now, a police investigation has shown that Lakda's death might have been as much a result of police complicity as it was of the violent mob. Last week, the investigation revealed how Lakda and the three other victims were ignored by the police for over an hour and a half, as they lay on the street, writhing in pain, after having been attacked for over four hours. [ . . . ] Full text here:https://www.dw.com/en/india-struggles-with-religious-lynchings/a-49950223
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