Hindu woman gets molested by Muslim man, Muslim mob desecrates temple while forcing her to not file complaint

Case ID : 0b672a1 | Location : Thane, Maharashtra, India | Date of Incident : Sat, 22 June, 2024

Case ID : 0b672a1

Thane, Maharashtra, India

22 June, 2024

Hindu woman gets molested by Muslim man, Muslim mob desecrates temple while forcing her to not file complaint

Attack on Hindu religious representations

Breaking rules of place of worship

Attack on Temples

Attack not resulting in death

Attacked for opposing radicals or trying to save victim

Case Summary

An incident in Thane, Maharashtra, involved a Hindu woman being molested by a Muslim shopkeeper while she was shopping for vegetables. The shopkeeper misbehaved with her under the pretext of giving her change. She escaped to a nearby temple but was pursued by a Muslim mob who threatened her not to file a complaint. Initially, the police refused to register an FIR but later did so under pressure. Hindu organisations visited the Police Commissioner on June 29, demanding strict action against the accused and highlighting that Hindus in Hazuri have been unsafe for months, facing harassment and deliberate hurt to their religious sentiments. They mentioned that the woman was molested by Shezad Shaikh, who had previously forced his way into her home on June 23. The organisations also reported that a mob of 100-150 Islamists defiled the temple by entering the premises wearing shoes. They warned of self-defence measures if the police failed to act and demanded security for the victim and her family.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

The first primary category this case is being added to is 'attack not resulting in death' and the sub-category 'attacked for opposing radicals'. In several cases, Hindus are attacked for opposing religiously motivated crimes being committed against a fellow Hindu or simply for voicing an opinion opposing radical elements, who either have in the past or continue to persecute Hindus. In such cases, the initial attack against the victim, against which the Hindu was trying to defend the victim, would also need to be classified as a religiously motivated hate crime. Since the initial crime itself was religiously motivated and the subsequent crime of attempting to save the victim or speaking against the radical elements ends up inviting a violent attack, it would also be classified as a religiously motivated hate crime under this category. In this case, the woman victim was molested by a Muslim man. The woman then ran into a temple out of fear after escaping the perpetrator who molested her. A Muslim mob of 100 chased her into the temple in order to force her and intimidate her to not file a complaint against the perpetrator. The woman was trying to escape a radical who was taking advantage of the Hindu woman when a community mob chased her into a temple with the intention of attacking her. On the face of it, the crime of molestation itself may not have been driven by religious animosity. However, when a community mob chases to attack the victim, it becomes evident that religious identity played a role in the mob's attempt to save the perpetrator, raising strong suspicions that the crime of molestation itself was driven by hostility towards the victim's religious identity. The second primary category this case is being added to is 'attack on Hindu religious representations'. The sub-category the case is being added to is 'breaking rules of place of worship' and 'attack on Hindu temple'. Sanatan Dharma is not a religion of one book, which is to say that while it has religious scriptures that form the central tenets of the faith, there are several traditions followed through thousands of years, mostly passed from generation to generation orally. One of these oral traditions or written traditions is the rules of specific temples. Certain temples have rules which are traditional rules, dependent on the worship of the presiding deities. These rules and traditions have been followed for thousands of years whether they find scriptural mention or not. Such traditions are based on the nature and rules of worship of the presiding deity of that temple. Any non-compliance of these traditions owing to animosity towards the faith or for the sake of activism stems not only from the lack of faith in the presiding deity but also disregard for the faith of the devotees of that deity/temple and implicit bias against the faith, the tradition and the deity itself. Further, in Hinduism, a temple is the abode of the Deity. The Deity in the Temple is consecrated, thereby, making it a real, breathing entity. Hindus believe that not just the Deity but the temple premises itself are sacred to Hindus since Hindus hold the faith that the entire Temple space is an amalgamation of the divine energy of the deity. Given the central significance of Temples in Hindu Dharma, any attack against a Hindu Temple or its peripheral premises is an attack on the faith itself and is born out of animosity towards the faith, of which, the Temple is a central tenet. Any manner of attack against a Temple and/or its premises would therefore be considered a religiously motivated hate crime. In this case, apart from the intention to attack, the Muslim mob also desecrated the Hindu temple when they entered it with the intention to commit violence. Further, they also forcefully entered the temple with their shoes on which desecrates the place of worship, driven by religious animosity. For that reason, this case is being added to the hate crime database.