LUCKNOW, India – Ten months after a mob in northern India killed a Muslim man over rumors that he had slaughtered a cow, his family faces prosecution for alleged cow slaughter following a neighbor's complaint.
Police officer Daljeet Singh says police registered a case of cow slaughter against Mohammad Akhlaq's family on Friday following a court order.
The court acted on a forensic report that said the meat found in a dustbin outside the family's home was beef or the meat of "a cow or its progeny."
The eating of beef is not a crime in Uttar Pradesh state, but slaughtering a cow carries a punishment of up to seven years in jail.
No arrests have been made so far. Yusuf Saifi, the family's attorney, said he would challenge the court's order.
