A man was given a six-month prison sentence by a Gujarat court for leaving his cows to wander loose on the streets.
It was determined that Prakash Jairam Desai had let them loose and put people’s lives in jeopardy.
The issue of stray cattle on the streets is becoming more and more of a problem in Gujarat and other Indian states.
‘The punishment was imposed, to uphold justice in light of the rising number of such offences,’ said the court.
Cows are considered to be sacrosanct by the Hindu majority in India, and slaughtering them is forbidden in 18 states, including Gujarat.
Gujarat toughened its cow protection regulations in 2017 by announcing that individuals who kill a cow could face a life sentence.
Unintentionally, such decision has resulted in a lot of cattle roaming the streets, clogging up traffic, attacking people, or ending up in charitable cattle shelters.
The court’s ruling says that, individuals have been killed and seriously injured as a result of owners releasing stray cattle on the roadways, reported The Times of India.
Earlier this year, a lumpy skin disease outbreak that caused livestock losses struck several Indian states, including Gujarat.
More than 5,800 cattle deaths were documented in the state, and it was believed that nearly 170,000 animals were infected.
Thousands of cows were released into the wild in September by charitable organisations that operate livestock shelters in Gujarat in protest of the lack of promised government assistance.
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