A court in India has sentenced a man to six months in prison for letting his cows roam the streets. According to the Times of India, the judges in the state of Gujarat argued on Tuesday that he had endangered the lives of other people. According to the newspaper, there is also a general trend according to which there are more cattle on the streets. The verdict is intended to set an example.
On the roads in India – even in megacities like New Delhi – there are in fact many cattle strolling around, some of which cause traffic accidents. Partly it’s cows that let farmers roam freely in urban areas because they don’t have any grassland for them. Some of them are animals that farmers no longer want.
Because there is a fundamental problem in the predominantly Hindu country: the people want milk, butter or yoghurt – but many do not want to kill the cows for religious reasons. In a number of states, including Gujarat, killing cows is illegal. Cows are sacred to the Hindu majority population of India. Also because of this conflict between emotions and profitability, farmers often abandon males and older females. Some of the cows find a place to stay in donation-based cow sanctuaries.
