However, ‘beef lynching’ as a category of violence has been introduced to India after 2014. Journalists know this because they are familiar with the sort of crimes that make the front pages. Three years into Modi’s first term, a research report found that 97 per cent of all cow-related violence in India came after he was elected.1 The report was from 2017 but already it showed that 84 per cent of those killed were Muslims. In 30 per cent of the attacks, the police registered cases against the victims. The data also showed that half the attacks were based on rumours.
