Two Muslim women were beaten up by Hindu cow vigilantes on Tuesday for allegedly possessing beef. The policemen watched as the women were slapped, kicked and verbally abused at a railway station in the Madhya Pradesh state of India.
The meat the women were carrying has since turned out to be buffalo, but police said they were attacked on Tuesday at a busy station, apparently after a group of Hindu cow vigilantes raised suspicions.
Video footage broadcast on local television channels showed a group of women slapping, kicking and punching the two as a large crowd gathered and the policemen watched.
The two women were subsequently arrested on suspicion of carrying beef.
Tests found it was actually buffalo, and they now face the lesser charge of carrying commercial quantities of meat without a licence.
“We had prior information and had deputed force to arrest them but unfortunately some people attacked them,” said Manoj Sharma, district police chief of Mandsaur where the incident occurred.
None of the people who attacked the two women had been arrested for the assault, Sharma said.
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