Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Cow vigilante groups often check vehicles for illegal transportation of cows in many states

A court in the northern Indian state of Jharkhand has sentenced 11 men to life in prison for lynching a Muslim meat trader last year. The men were part of a mob that pulled Alimuddin Ansari from his vehicle, beat him to death and then set the car on fire in a pre-planned attack on June 29, 2017. Extremist Hindu groups, many of which claim to be affiliated with Bharatiya Janata, have been implicated in a wave of attacks on Muslims and low-caste Hindus carried out in the name of the cow, which many Hindus regard as sacred. Violence is not the solution to any problem.”

Ansari’s wife, Mariam Khatun, told journalists outside the court that she mourned her husband but “did not want more bloodshed”. • Why India man was lynched over beef rumours

Ever since the rise to power of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party in the summer of 2014, vigilante cow protection groups have been emboldened, leading to numerous attacks on Muslims and Dalits (formerly untouchables), for whom beef is a staple. Human Rights Watch urged law enforcers to take prompt action with credible investigations and prosecutions in the pending cases to rein in "those responsible for hate crimes".
An Indian court convicts eleven Hindus of murdering a Muslim man they discovered transporting beef, sentencing them to life. It is the first successful prosecution of cow vigilantism violence in India.