Gaoshalas are common in India, run by Hindus like Mr Prasad in an attempt to protect cows from being slaughtered for meat. “The cows are like a God to us,” he explains.
Mr Prasad walks among the cattle – patting one here, another there. But his gentle disposition dissolves when asked about people who slaughter cattle.
“We should kill them,” he says. “We should kill them because there is no other way.”
And what about Christians and Muslims who eat beef?
“Killed,” he says firmly.
It’s a very radical response and not something that the vast majority of Hindus would agree with.
However, since India’s nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in 2014, there have been a number of murders across the country linked to the slaughter of cows. Cattle traders, an alleged cattle smuggler and even a man accused of storing beef in his home have all been killed.
On March 18, two Muslim cattle traders were murdered in the north-eastern state of Jharkhand, their bodies found swinging from a tree. One of the victims was just 14-years-old.
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