Mota Khakivad in Amreli town of Gujarat has been in the news for reasons that should make its residents pale in the face. Life in the town hasn’t been the same after three members of the Solanki family received life sentences on November 11 for cow slaughter. The court also ordered them to pay a cumulative fine exceeding Rs 18 lakh. The general sentiment is that the verdict is harsh.
For the uninitiated, the Gujarat Animal Preservation Act prohibits cow slaughter. Even the sale of cow meat is banned in the state. Eight years ago, the BJP increased the maximum punishment for cow slaughter from seven years to life imprisonment. Amreli district has seen 24 convictions in at least 14 cases under the Gujarat Animal Preservation Act in the last three years.
The Solanki case stands out for the length of the sentence and because it involves three members of one family. The convicts are brothers Kasim, 20, and Akram, 30, and their uncle Satar, 52.
The locality has a mixed Hindu-Muslim population and many residents, including the Solankis, traditionally worked as butchers. Neighbours refused to comment, saying they knew nothing. The family declined to talk, saying they feared consequences.
The report added that a local who knows them said the three men lived together. He said Kasim was unmarried, while Akram had a wife and four children. He added that the family was in shock. He remarked that people usually get life imprisonment for killing a human being, yet here three people were jailed for killing a calf. He also said he did not know how the family would raise Rs 18 lakh or pursue an appeal now that its main earners were in jail.
Akram had already been sentenced to three years’ rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 5,000 in an earlier case under the Act. He was out on bail in that case when he was arrested again.
This story was originally published in thewire.in. Read the full story here.