--- title: India's Election-Fueled Death Toll Climbs to 43 description: Police in Assam have discovered five more bodies of women and children killed in a violent rampage against Muslim civilians canonical: https://time.com/97605/india-election-assam-bodo-muslim/ author: Dan Kedmey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-05-13T16:27:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T07:48:23.742Z article:section: World og:title: India's Election-Fueled Death Toll Climbs to 43 og:description: Police in Assam have discovered five more bodies of women and children killed in a violent rampage against Muslim civilians og:url: https://time.com/97605/india-election-assam-bodo-muslim/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt64fe79f007bb2451/69868f18f983e776a104dc75/487937215.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: INDIA-UNREST-ATTACKS og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: India's Election-Fueled Death Toll Climbs to 43 twitter:description: Police in Assam have discovered five more bodies of women and children killed in a violent rampage against Muslim civilians twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt64fe79f007bb2451/69868f18f983e776a104dc75/487937215.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # India's Election-Fueled Death Toll Climbs to 43  by [Dan Kedmey](/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey May 13, 2014 4:27 PM CUT  Indian villagers mourn the death of their relatives in the village of Narayanguri, some 200kms west of Guwahati on May 3, 2014, after they were killed by tribal separatists. Indian villagers mourn the death of their relatives in the village of Narayanguri, some 200kms west of Guwahati on May 3, 2014, after they were killed by tribal separatists.BIJU BORO—AFP/Getty Images  by [Dan Kedmey](/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey May 13, 2014 4:27 PM CUT Indian police have discovered the bodies of five more women and children in Assam province, where electoral tensions [boiled over](http://time.com/89042/while-indian-politicians-argue-people-in-assam-stuck-in-violent-cycle/ "undefined") into a violent rampage last week that authorities described as “barbaric.” The _Guardian_ [reports](http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/07/india-elections-death-toll-43-attacks-muslims-assam "undefined") that the death toll climbed to 43 as police continued to search the tea-growing state for victims of the violent attack. Police are investigating allegations that Bodo rebels, locked in a long-standing land dispute with the Muslim community and angered by its support for an opposing candidate, rampaged through Muslim villages, burning down homes and opening fire on women and children. “The killings were indeed barbaric,” said Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi, “with even a five-month-old baby not spared.” TIME [interviewed ](http://time.com/89042/while-indian-politicians-argue-people-in-assam-stuck-in-violent-cycle/ "undefined")victims of the attack last week, as authorities were still grasping the scope of the rampage. Voting in the Indian elections ended on Monday, with exit polls suggesting the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies were [on their way to a win](http://time.com/96528/bjp-india-exit-poll-modi/ "undefined"). \[[_Guardian_](http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/07/india-elections-death-toll-43-attacks-muslims-assam "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/97605/india-election-assam-bodo-muslim/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/97605/india-election-assam-bodo-muslim/"},"headline":"India's Election-Fueled Death Toll Climbs to 43","datePublished":"2014-05-13T16:27:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T07:48:23.742Z","description":"Indian police discovered the bodies of five more women and children in Assam, where electoral tensions triggered violent rampages against Muslim civilians","url":"https://time.com/97605/india-election-assam-bodo-muslim/","keywords":["India","elections","Muslim","Assam"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt64fe79f007bb2451/69868f18f983e776a104dc75/487937215.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Dan Kedmey","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt64fe79f007bb2451/69868f18f983e776a104dc75/487937215.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"INDIA-UNREST-ATTACKS","caption":"INDIA-UNREST-ATTACKS","creditText":"BIJU BORO—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/97605/india-election-assam-bodo-muslim/","name":"India's Election-Fueled Death Toll Climbs to 43"}}]}] ```