In India, cow vigilante violence is the use of physical force in the name of "cow protection". Since 2014, mob attacks targeting mostly illegal cow smugglers, but in some cases even licensed cow traders, have become prominent.There is a debate on whether there has actually been any change in the number of such incidences, as government data points out to reduced communal tensions post 2014. Cattle slaughter is banned in most states of India. Recently emerged cow vigilante groups, claiming to be protecting cattle, have been violent leading to a number of deaths. Cow-protection groups see themselves as preventing cattle theft and smuggling, protecting the cow or upholding the law in an Indian state which bans cow slaughter. According to a Reuters report, a total of 63 cow vigilante attacks h