A school headmistress has been arrested in eastern Assam’s Goalpara district for allegedly bringing cooked beef to school for lunch, officials said on Thursday.
Her alleged act came during the May 11-14 Gunotsav 2022, an exercise to evaluate schools’ performance in the state. She was taken to the police station on May 16 and sent to jail custody the next day, police said.
Eating beef is not illegal in Assam but the Assam Cattle Preservation Act, 2021, bans cattle slaughter and beef sale in areas where Hindus, Jains and Sikhs are the majority, or within 5km of any temple, satra (Vaishnavite monastery) or any other institution as prescribed by the authorities.
A case has been registered under penal sections 295A (acts intended to outrage religious feelings by insulting religion or religious beliefs) and 153A (promoting enmity on grounds of religion and performing acts prejudicial to harmony).
The president of the management committee of the Hurkachungi Middle English School in the Lakhipur area had lodged a complaint alleging the headmistress had brought beef for her lunch, additional superintendent of police Mrinal Deka said.
“We brought her to the police station on May 16. After questioning she was arrested and the court sent her to judicial custody the next day,” he said.
