Hindu auto driver attacked by Muslim youths for transporting burqa-clad passenger
Bidar, Karnataka, India 
16 April, 2024
Case Summary
In Bidar district, Karnataka, a Hindu auto-rickshaw driver was attacked by Muslim youths on April 17 for picking up a burqa-clad Muslim woman passenger. A viral video of the incident surfaced on May 12, showing the attackers assaulting both the driver and the woman, with one assailant rebuking the driver for tarnishing the Muslim name. Three of the accused, identified as Syed Bilal, Tausif Ayub Chavus, and Syed Ibrahim, were arrested, while two others, Qadeer Qureshi and Magdoom, remain at large. The incident occurred in Basavakalyan, where the driver was transporting passengers. He was stopped, beaten, abused, and 'moral policed' by five Muslim youths, who objected to him transporting Muslim women. The victim filed a complaint at the Basavakalyana Nagar police station.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
There have been several cases documented of Hindu men/boys being attacked specifically by Muslim groups/mobs for merely being associated or suspicion of being associated or being seen with a Muslim woman in public. In most of such cases, the Hindu man is not in a relationship with the Muslim woman, however, the mob proceeds to threaten and/or assault the Hindu man for merely being associated with the Muslim woman in any capacity. The rise of such crimes stems from a particularly sinister campaign run by several Muslim ideologues and activists. The campaign claims that Hindu men are attempting to ‘lure’ Muslim women into relationships to ensure that Muslim women leave their faith and follow Hinduism. The propaganda has been spearheaded with the help of WhatsApp groups and the extensive use of social media, sans evidence of the same. In many cases, pamphlets were fabricated to lend credence to this campaign. The root of this campaign lies in the fact that several cases of sectarian crimes against Hindu women in relationships with Muslim men have been documented. In such cases, Hindu women have often been forced/pressured to convert to Islam, assaulted, threatened and even murdered owing specifically to their religious identity and their refusal to give up that religious identity to adopt Islam. To delegitimize the suffering of Hindu women when such sectarian crimes are committed against them, the theory of ‘Bhagwa Love Trap’ was floated by sections of the Muslim community. As this theory gained traction, Muslim mobs started targeting Hindu men who were seen with Muslim women. In several such cases, the Hindu man was assaulted merely for offering to drop a Muslim woman in his vehicle or being friends. The differentiating factor between such cases and legitimate cases of Hindu women being targeted while in a relationship with Muslim men is that there is no sectarian violence, and force/pressure to convert. The nature of sectarian violence against Hindu women is not about two adults in a consensual relationship, working together, studying together, or even marrying each other where religious considerations are declared. In this category of crimes, it is pertinent to remember that in none of the cases, there is an element of the Hindu man masking his identity or forced religious conversion. Such cases are driven by specific religious motivations and against the religious identity of the victim and are therefore qualified as hate crimes. The Muslim woman in this instance was not connected to the Hindu man in any manner. The Muslim perpetrators harassed and mistreated him even though he was just dropping her off in his auto. The Hindu youth was singled out and harassed only by virtue of his religious identity. Since the harassment was obviously motivated by hatred for the victim's faith, this case has been listed as a religiously motivated hate crime in this Hindu hate tracker.
Victim Details
Total Victim
1
Deceased
0
Gender
- Male 1
- Female 0
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 0
Caste
- SC/ST 0
- OBC 0
- General 0
- Unknown 1
Age Group
- Minor 0
- Adult 1
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 0
Case Status
Arrested
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 5 to 10
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
