10 years in prison for cow slaughter

CHANDIGARH: The Haryana government would table a bill before the state assembly on Monday to make cow slaughter punishable by up to 10-year imprisonment.

The proposed move comes days after another BJP-ruled state ? Maharashtra ? imposed a five-year jail term for cow slaughter

Cow slaughter a non-bailable offence in Maharashtra:

Cow slaughter remains banned in Haryana under the Punjab Prohibition of Cow-Slaughter Act, which provides for five-year imprisonment for cow slaughter.

The new bill would double the jail term for cow slaughter besides substantially increasing fine for all related offences, like smuggling cows and selling beef.

Under the proposed law, any vehicle used for cow slaughter would be confiscated and auctioned. The existing Act does not ban selling packaged beef. But the proposed law would impose a heavy penalty on selling all types of beef.

"Our law would be more stringent than any other state in the country," said state animal husbandry minister Om Prakash Dhankar.

"We would not allow beef in Haryana as it hurts our religious sentiments. This is as simple as liquor prohibition in Gujarat. If somebody wants to drink, he has to go outside Gujarat."

Meat traders say beef ban could affect their livelihood:

State education minister Ram Bilas Sharma had suggested death sentence for cow slaughter before the assembly elections in October 2014 when he was the Haryana BJP chief.

The Haryana government plans to set up special laboratories to ensure beef is not passed off as meat of other animals.

"The test reports will be valid evidence before the court of law," said Dhankar.

"After this provision, concrete evidence will be available against the accused and it will be an effective measure for conviction."

Haryana minister Anil Vij supported the stringent law against cow slaughter. "Some people argue in favour of respecting sentiments of beef-eaters. If some community develops a habit of eating human flesh, should we respect that as well?" he asked on twitter.

A number of Hindu organizations have become active in Haryana in the last couple of years. They have registered numerous police complaints against those transporting cows. Some incidents of violence have also been reported.