Camera : Shiv Kumar Maurya (This story is part of The Quint's ongoing project 'Uncovering Hate' that seeks to expose communal violence and discrimination through ground reports and investigations. You can support this project and help us do more such reports) Sitting on a charpai (cot), sixty-year-old Hazra is still traumatised. Often, she thinks of how her 21-year-old son Waris Khan was lynched on the suspicion of cow smuggling.
Hers is a shared yet personal grief in Haryana where violence against locals under the Cow Protection Law has only seen a rise in recent years. Haryana often makes its way into headlines due to alleged cow-related killings — the latest incidents being that of Aryan Mishra and Sabir Malik . But what most people are unaware of is how there are sections under the Cow Protection Law misused to scourge the victims and exonerate the so-called cow vigilantes.
The law we are referring to is the Gauvansh Sanrakshan Aur Gausamvardhan Adhiniyam which become official in 2015. Tahir Devla, an Advocate from Nuh claims that he has around 60% cases under the law under him. "The law was brought in to pacify and please the majority.
It was brought in with mala fide intentions, you can tell through sections such as 14 and 17 how they make it harder for the victims to fight the case but also ultimately fall flat in court," Devla told The Quint. Also Read The Quint's Hate Crime Tracker ADVERTISEMENT REMOVE AD The Quint travelled in and around Nuh — one of the most ba.
