Dalit man's body found hanging from a tree after he eloped with his Muslim girlfriend

Case ID : 0b6768e | Location : Fatehganj West, Uttar Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Fri, 16 August, 2024

Case ID : 0b6768e

Fatehganj West, Uttar Pradesh, India

16 August, 2024

Dalit man's body found hanging from a tree after he eloped with his Muslim girlfriend

Men attacked for being associated with non-Hindu women

Killed by non-Hindu partner's family

Attack resulting in death

Attacked for Hindu identity

Case Summary

Suraj, a Dalit man, was found hanging from a tree in Fatehganj West, Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, just six days after he eloped with a Muslim girl. His body was discovered near the village where his uncle lived. Suraj’s family accused the girl’s relatives of murdering him in retaliation for the elopement. According to Additional Superintendent of Police, Mukesh Chandra Mishra, Suraj had been living with the girl in Rudrapur, Uttarakhand, after her family filed an abduction case against him. Following her recovery, the police recorded the girl's statement. The next day, Suraj was found dead. His body was handed over to his family after an autopsy, and police assured them that strict action would be taken against those responsible. An FIR was lodged against 10 individuals, including the girl’s father, Chuttan, her brother Tasleem, and others, under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the SC/ST Act.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

Distinct elements in this particular case demonstrate that the crime was committed while harbouring a bias against the Hindu faith. As per case details, the prime category under which this case has been placed in the hate tracker is- Men attacked for being associated with non-Hindu women. The sub-category selected under this category is- Killed by non-Hindu partner's family- When Hindu men are in a relationship with non-Hindu women, there are cases where the man is forced/pressured to convert his religion and upon his refusal to do so, the family of the non-Hindu partner murders the victim. Such relationships may be consensual with the religious identity of the non-Hindu woman known to the victim. Somewhere along the relationship, the non-Hindu woman and her family start forcing/pressurizing the Hindu man to convert. In some of these cases, the association could be non-consensual as well or, the religious identity of the non-Muslim woman could be previously unknown to the Hindu victim. In such cases, the Hindu man is first forced/pressurized to change his religion by the non-Hindu woman’s family. The pressure could involve threats. The trigger to murdering the Hindu man in these cases is his refusal to comply and change his religion under threat and/or force. In other cases that have been documented, it is also seen that the Hindu partner is murdered by the family of the non-Hindu woman simply for his relationship with the non-Hindu woman and by virtue of him following the Hindu faith and not the religion of the non-Hindu woman. In such cases, the relationship is consensual in most cases and the religion of both partners is known to the other. Often, in such cases, there is no direct force/pressure to convert either, however, the murder is a result of the Hindu man being in a relationship with the non-Hindu partner and not following her religion/following Hinduism specifically. Such cases are driven by specific religious motivations and against the religious identity of the victim and are therefore qualified as hate crimes. What makes this case worthy of being documented as a religiously motivated hate crime is that the family of his Muslim partner killed a Hindu man for being in a relationship with her. In this case, the relationship was consensual and the man and woman were with each other knowing each other’s identity fully well. However, in the Islamic faith, a marriage is deemed illegitimate if the non-Muslim partner does not convert to Islam. For those who practice the faith, when their daughter marries a Hindu man without the man converting to Islam, the difference in religions followed becomes the main point of disapproval for the family of the Muslim woman. Because of the ingrained element of religious supremacy in Islam, the perpetrator family believes that such interfaith relationships diminish the family’s ‘honour’. In this case, the inherent animosity for the Hindu religion prompted the family of the Muslim girl to go to the extent of killing the Hindu man, making this case worthy of being documented in the tracker. It is important to note that while it is not explicitly stated that the Muslim girl's family killed the Hindu youth, the deceased's family accused the girl’s relatives of murdering him in retaliation for the elopement. In situations like this, the ground realities, including testimonies from the victim’s family or relatives, often reveal a clear religious bias as the underlying motive. In this case, also, the Hindu youth’s religious identity catalyzed his murder, indicating that religious hatred was the driving force behind the crime.