Assam: Headmistress booked, sent to jail for bringing cooked beef to school for lunch

The headmistress of a school in Goalpara district of Assam was arrested and sent to jail for bringing cooked beef to school as her lunch, officials said on Thursday.

The headmistress, Daliman Nessa, allegedly brought the cooked beef during the ‘Gunotsav 2022’, a state-wide exercise to evaluate school performance held between May 11 and May 14. She was taken to the police station on May 16 after a complaint was lodged against her.

Consumption of beef is not illegal in Assam, but the Assam Cattle Preservation Act, 2021, bans cattle slaughter and sale of beef in areas where Hindus, Jains and Sikhs are in a majority and in areas within a five-km radius of a temple or satra (Vaishnavite monastery).

Additional superintendent of police, Mrinal Deka said the president of the management committee of Hurkachungi Middle English School of Lakhipur area had lodged a complaint against the headmistress alleging that she had carried beef for lunch.

“We brought her to the police station on May 16. After questioning she was arrested and the court sent her to judicial custody on the next day,” he added.

A case was registered under Sections 295(A) (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) and 153(A) (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) of the Indian Penal Code.