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Woman ‘gang raped as punishment for eating beef’

The 20-year-old told the BBC that four men attacked her and her teenage cousin in northern India after accusing her of being a Muslim who ate the meat.

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Haryana police arrested four men in their 30s from the village and booked them for trespass, r*pe and murder.

A Muslim woman in north India says she was gang raped after her attackers accused her of eating beef. The alleged rape took place two weeks ago, but has just emerged.

Cows are considered sacred in Hindu tradition and consumption of their meat is banned in the state.

One of the victims, in the presence of activist, Shabnam Hashmi, said, “They asked if we eat beef”. Reports of the shocking incident, on 24 August, rocked the Muslim-dominated Mewat district, 100km (62 miles) from the capital Delhi, in Haryana state.

“The Muslim community is in shock and they are really scared because such a horrific attack has never happened in our area”, Ramzan Chaudhary, a Muslim community leader in Mewat, said. “It’s possible that this incident was planned to create religious tensions in the area, Abid Khan, a member of the Mewat Bar Association, also said”.

Police told reporters Akhlaq was dragged from his house on the outskirts of New Delhi and attacked by around 100 people. But tension in Mewat continues to build up as cow protection groups plan to organise a mahapanchayat on September 15 with representatives from Jhajjar, Panchgaon, Wazirabad, Dadri Toye, Sohna, Dharuheda, Daultabad and Bhondsi to demand action against vendors selling beef biryani.

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In response, tough new anti-rape laws were introduced in the country.

India Muslim woman 'raped for eating beef'