Muslim mob hurls casteist abuses and assault Dalits with sharp weapons
Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India 
8 August, 2024
Case Summary
In Saharanpur district of Uttar Pradesh, members of the Dalit community were attacked by a Muslim mob on 9th August 2024. The assailants, identified as Ishaq, Sahil, Asghar, Ajju, and Shibbu, assaulted the victims with weapons and hurled casteist abuses at them. During the attack, they also targeted a woman and threatened to kill the victims. Three individuals sustained serious injuries and were hospitalized. The incident occurred in the village of Khera Afghan in the Nakur police station area. The conflict arose after Dayaram, a Dalit man, questioned the suspects regarding a recent theft of his inverter. This provoked the attackers, leading to a violent assault on Dayaram. A villager named Rishipal intervened, but later, the attackers stormed his house and brutally assaulted him, his brother Karthik, and their aunt Anita, while continuing to shout caste-based slurs. An FIR was registered under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) along with the SC/ST Act.
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, members of the Hindu-Dalit community were attacked by a Muslim mob. Though the initial trigger for the violence was non-religious in nature, the religious motive and animosity towards the Hindus are indicated by the caste slurs that were hurled at 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 youths hurled caste abuses at the victim, the hate was driven by his animosity towards Hinduism and Hindus. While the immediate trigger of the violence could be an argument over the theft of an inverter, as mentioned in reports, the fact that caste slurs were hurled at the victim by the perpetrator makes it a religiously motivated hate crime against the victim.
Case Status
Arrested
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 2 To 5
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
