Thiruvananthapuram: Eight Youth Congress workers, including a local leader, were on Thursday arrested in Kerala’s Kannur district for the public slaughter of a bull last week.
The arrested partymen had slaughtered the bovine last week as part of the Youth Congress’ protest against the federal Bharatiya Janata Party government’s move to impose an indirect beef ban across India.
Those arrested include Youth Congress leader Rigil Makutty, the party’s parliamentary constituency president, who was suspended from the party over the incident. Police had registered a case on the basis of a complaint filed by the Yuva Morcha activists against the public slaughtering of the young bull.
Makutty had also faced criticism from within the Congress party for the act. Those condemning the public slaughter included Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, and senior Congress leaders in the state including Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala and former chief minister Oommen Chandy.
Along with Makutty, the other Youth Congress workers involved in the incident were also suspended from the party.
The arrested Youth Congressmen face multiple charges under the Kerala Police Act. The charges include public butchering of an animal, and cruelty to a domestic animal. The accused can get a jail term of up to one year and a fine of Rs5,000 (Dh285) if convicted.
The killing of the bull was among many demonstrations held across the state last week to protest the federal government’s proposed ban on beef in the country.
The ruling Left Democratic Front and the Opposition United Democratic Front are both opposing the beef ban, and the state government has plans to approach the law courts to overturn the federal government’s stricture.
The Kerala High Court, however, observed this week that the federal government’s directive only banned sale of cattle in the market for slaughter, and that it did not prevent individuals from trading in cattle or consuming beef.
In a related incident, a Keralite student at the Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai, R. Sooraj was assaulted on the institute campus this week when he and some friends held a protest against the beef ban.
