Rashid and his father arrested for kidnapping a Dalit minor at gunpoint and attempting to rape her, hurled casteist slurs towards her family
Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, India 
19 May, 2024
Case Summary
In Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly district, four from the Muslim community were accused of kidnapping a minor Dalit girl at gunpoint and attempting to rape her. The family members who went to rescue the victim were subjected to caste-based abuses and given death threats by the accused. The incident took place on May 20, 2024. Police arrested 2 accused in the case and search is on for the absconding accused. The victim's father lodged a complaint on May 22, 2024, saying that on the day of the incident, there was a programme at his house. The same night, their 16-year-old daughter was going to her uncle’s house at around 11:30 PM, when the victim met Rashid on the way. He showed a gun to the minor, and took her to a garden. Here, the accused molested the minor, and even tried to rape her. He also called his accomplices Ashfaq and Ishaq’s son Nanne to the spot. Rashid’s father Nanhe also reached the spot. All these accused tried to take the victim to some other place from there. The victim's family began searching for the girl and found her with the perpetrators before they could take her some place else. On seeing her family, the accused hurled casteist slurs and Rashid showed the gun to the victim’s father and said, “If you open your mouth anywhere, we will kill you.” On May 24, the patrolling police force raided the place and arrested Rashid and his father Nanhe. Both were sent to judicial custody.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the hate tracker under the prime category- Hate speech against Hindus. Under this, the sub-category selected is- Anti-Hindu slurs, mocking faith- Anti-Hindu slurs and the deliberate mocking of the Hindu faith owing to religious animosity involve the usage of derogatory terms, stereotypes, or offensive references to religious practices, symbols, or figures. One of the common anti-Hindu slurs used against Hindus is “cow-worshipper” and “cow piss drinker”. The intention of using this term is to demean and mock Hindus as a group and their religious beliefs since Hindus consider the cow holy. Additionally, some symbols and the slurs attached to them have a historical context that exacerbates the insult, hate, stereotyping, dehumanisation and oppression against Hindus. Cow worship has been used for centuries to denigrate Hindus, insult their faith and oppress Hindus specifically as a religious group. There has been overwhelming documentation about how cow slaughter has been used to persecute Hindus with cow meat being thrown in temples and places of worship. There has also been overwhelming documentation where cow meat (beef) has been force-fed to Hindus to either forcefully convert them to Islam or denigrate their faith. Apart from cow worship, the Swastika – which holds deep religious significance for the Hindus – has also been misinterpreted and distorted to use as a slur against Hindus. Similarly, the worship of the Shivling has been used by supremacist ideologies and religions to denigrate Hindus owing to religious animosity. Such slurs and denigration stem out of inherent animosity and hate towards Hindus and their faith, therefore, it is categorised as hate speech targeted at Hindus specifically owing to their religious identity. In this case, the Hindu-Dalit minor girl was kidnapped at gunpoint by four men from the Muslim community, who also tried to sexually assault and threaten her with her life. However, the religious motive and animosity towards the Hindu minor are indicated by the caste slurs that were hurled at her family members who went to rescue her. The Hindu-Dalit victim's father confirmed how he and his other famil members were abused with caste slurs by the Muslim youths when they went to save the victim from them. It can be argued that a caste-specific slur is aimed at her micro identity of belonging to the Dalit section of the Hindu community and not her Hindu identity itself. However, as far as Abrahamic religions are concerned, the micro identities of caste, region, and language are secondary. It is the religious identity that drives the animosity of the perpetrator against the Hindu victim. In this case, while the Muslim accused hurled caste abuses at the victim and her family members, the animosity was driven by his animosity towards Hinduism and Hindus. The fact that caste slurs were hurled at the victim by the perpetrator makes it a religiously motivated hate crime against the victim.
Victim Details
Total Victim
1
Deceased
0
Gender
- Male 0
- Female 1
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 0
Caste
- SC/ST 1
- OBC 0
- General 0
- Unknown 0
Age Group
- Minor 1
- Adult 0
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 0
Case Status
Case sub-judice
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 2 To 5
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
