Assam headmistress jailed for bringing ‘cooked beef’ for lunch

GUWAHATI: The headmistress of a school in lower Assam’s Goalpara district has been arrested and sent to jail for allegedly bringing cooked beef for lunch to school, police said.
The arrestee has been identified as Dalima Nessa, headmistress of Hurkachungi Middle English School of the Lakhipur area.
Additional SP (headquarter) of the district, Mrinal Deka, said, “The incident took place on May 14, but came to light on Tuesday after a local lodged a police complaint.” He said the local filed the complaint after being upset with the act of the headmistress as a school is a public place where people belonging to different religions or faiths gather.
Nessa allegedly brought cooked beef to school for lunch on May 14, the last day of ‘Gunotsav 2022’, an exercise that started on May 11 to evaluate the performance of the schools in the state.
Deka said, “The 56-year-old has been booked under sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence) and 295A (Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) of IPC(IPC).”
Beef is not banned in the state. However, Assam Cattle Preservation Act, 2021 bans cattle slaughter and sale of beef in parts of the state where Hindus, Jaina and Sikhs are in a majority or within a 5-km radius of a temple or Vaishnavite religious places.