Overview: India’s government has strict laws surrounding cow slaughter because cows are sacred in Hinduism. Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasized the need to make sure India’s cows are protected and some state governments followed suit by opening more cow shelters and ordering more police crackdowns. But some took cow protection into their own hands. Cow vigilantes started patrolling neighborhoods looking to physically punish those who were allegedly harboring cows, consuming cows or even transporting cows. In most cases, the victims of these mob beatings were Muslim.