Indian mob lynches Muslim man 'for eating beef'

A Muslim man has been killed and another critically injured by an angry mob in India over rumours that they slaughtered a cow.

Mohammad Akhlaq and his 22-year-old son were attacked in Bisara, a village near the capital New Delhi. Six people have been arrested in connection with the murder, the Indian Express reports.

His daughter witnessed the attack, telling the newspaper that a "group of more than 100 people from the village" marched towards their house during the night.

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"They accused us of keeping cow meat, broke down our doors and started beating my father and brother,” she said. “My father was dragged outside the house and beaten with bricks."

This is the latest in a number of attacks against people accused of slaughtering cows and reflects the wider religious conflict over the status of the animals in India. Earlier this year, 10 people were seriously injured in Delhi after a mob attacked men accused of transporting cow hides.

"There has been a bit of rallying around this discourse of how Muslims and Christians kills cows, and it’s an emotive issue because pious Hindus do worship them," Meenakshi Ganguly from Human Rights Watch told the Financial Times. "It's dangerous rhetoric which can spiral into violence."

The attacks also represent a growing trend of mob justice in India, as citizens appear to be losing faith in the justice system. "The fact that mobs are expressing their moral outrage over something, and they feel justified in taking this action, is a crisis in the public faith over the rule of law," says Ganguly.