Hindu youth assaulted by Muslims for his ‘Jai Shree Ram’ ringtone

Case ID : 0b66bb1 | Location : Jalna, Maharashtra, India | Date of Incident : Tue, 21 May, 2024

Case ID : 0b66bb1

Jalna, Maharashtra, India

21 May, 2024

Hindu youth assaulted by Muslims for his ‘Jai Shree Ram’ ringtone

Attack not resulting in death

Attacked for Hindu identity

Case Summary

In the Partur area of Jalna district, Maharashtra, a young Hindu man named Vicky Hawale was brutally attacked by Muslim youths while having a meal at a hotel with his brother. The assailants got enraged upon hearing the victim's "Jai Shree Ram" ringtone and assaulted him. Vicky sustained severe injuries and was hospitalised for four days. Despite filing a complaint with the police, no action was taken against the accused, one of whom was identified as Sameer. The entire incident was captured on CCTV. The perpetrators are reportedly involved in various illegal activities, and authorities turned a blind eye to their actions due to corruption and bribery. This lack of accountability sparked outrage among the Hindu community and organisations.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

In several cases, Hindus are attacked merely for their Hindu identity without any perceived provocation. A classic example of this category of religiously motivated hate crime is a murder in 2016. 7 ISIS terrorists were convicted for shooting a school principal in Kanpur because they got ‘triggered’ seeing the Kalava on his wrist and tilak that he had put. In this, the Hindu victim had offered no provocation except for his Hindu religious identity. The motivation for the murder was purely religious, driven by religious supremacy. Such cases where Hindus are targeted merely for their religious identity would be documented as a hate crime under this category. In this case, a Hindu was attacked by Muslim youths for keeping a 'Jai Shri Ram' ringtone on his phone. The Jai Shri Ram slogan is an expression of the religious identity and devotion of Hindus towards one of their most revered gods- Lord Ram. If an individual is attacked specifically for choosing a Jai Shri Ram ringtone, it indicates that the attack was directly linked to the religious significance of the phrase. In this case, the attack on the Hindu youth reflects the bias and prejudice of the Muslim perpetrators against the victim's religious beliefs. They tried to intimidate and punish the Hindu for his religious expression. Such actions stem from an intrinsic animosity for Hindus and their beliefs and for this reason, this case has been categorised as a hate crime and included in the tracker.