Mandsaur assault: Irony in charges mismatch

BHOPAL: The two women beaten up at Mandsaur after being falsely accused of carrying beef had to furnish bail bonds of Rs 25,000 each to get out of prison this morning. But four men who were arrested today on the charge of assaulting them might need to pay only a fine of Rs 1,500 even if convicted - if the courts hand out the minimum punishments for the offences they have been charged with. An award of the maximum punishment could land the four in jail for 13 months. But Salma Mevati and Shamim Akhtar Hussain - the women beaten up - can be jailed for up to three years if convicted of illegally transporting buffalo meat. Govind Rao Chouhan, Vikas Ahir, Swadesh Chanal and Dilip Devda have been booked under penal code Sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 341 (wrongful restraint) and 34 (common intention). Section 323 carries the minimum punishment of a Rs 1,000 fine, and Section 341 of a Rs 500 fine. Section 34 brings no separate punishment and merely tries to ensure uniform sentences for all the accused. The maximum punishments under Sections 323 and 341 are, respectively, a year and a month in jail. Madhya Pradesh Congress spokesperson K.K. Mishra wondered why the four men had not been booked under more stringent provisions such as Section 506, which provides for up to seven years' jail. "The police's attitude suggests they are trying to protect these goons, who have political patronage," Mishra alleged. Salma and Shamim have alleged their attackers were from the Bajrang Dal but the police would not confirm it. Cow vigilantes had dragged the two women out of a train at Mandsaur station on Tuesday morning and thrashed them on suspicion of carrying beef as the police looked on. After a veterinarian summoned by the police declared the meat to be buffalo and not cow, the women were arrested on the charges of animal cruelty and carrying meat for sale without a licence. They got bail last evening after a local Samaritan, Akhlaque, staked his property as surety on the women's behalf. Salma, 38, told The Telegraph from her home in Mandsaur that she and Shamim had been receiving death threats since their release. "We are getting phone calls saying we should not name prominent Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) or Bajrang Dal leaders and must withdraw our complaint against those who thrashed us," she said. "The police have named and arrested those who figure in the video (which has gone viral). They are not touching the masterminds." Salma said a few Bajrang Dal activists had stopped the women on arrival at Mandsaur and asked them what they were carrying. "We told them it was paade ke (buffalo calf) meat, but they alleged it was beef," she said. "We told them to get it examined by a doctor (veterinarian) but they asked the women accompanying them to beat us." D.R.S. Chauhan, deputy superintendent of Government Railway Police, said the women who had thrashed Salma and Shamim would be identified and arrested soon. Police sources said that Mandsaur police had arrested Salma and Shamim on Tuesday under a 2004 anti cow-slaughter law but later charged them under an older law when the meat turned out to be buffalo. Under the Madhya Pradesh Krishi Pashu Parirakhsan Adhiniyam, 1959, anyone found slaughtering buffalo without permission or transporting buffalo meat can be jailed for three years. District VHP leaders admitted they had been monitoring the sale and slaughter of cows and buffalo in the Mandsaur-Neemach-Ratlam area for the past eight months. Hemant Bulchandani, VHP convener of Mandsaur, however, claimed the attackers were not from the VHP or the Bajrang Dal but were the women's co-passengers. Speaking off the record, many police officers in Mandsaur said they did not agree with him. -The Telegarph Calcutta