Muslim mob assaults Hindu man, threatens to chop him into pieces for riding a bike with Muslim colleague

Case ID : a4aed60 | Location : Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Sat, 13 April, 2024

Case ID : a4aed60

Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, India

13 April, 2024

Muslim mob assaults Hindu man, threatens to chop him into pieces for riding a bike with Muslim colleague

Men attacked for being associated with non-Hindu women

Attacked/killed for being associated or suspicion of being associated with Muslim woman

Case Summary

In Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, a Hindu youth was assaulted by a Muslim mob while he was riding a bike with his Muslim colleague. The incident occurred in the Peer Bahoda area on April 14, 2024, when the mob stopped the youth, identified as Anand, and questioned him about his companion's identity and his own background upon noticing a sacred thread (Kalava) on his hand. Despite Anand's explanation that he was accompanying his colleague for work, the mob attacked him, numbering around 25-30 individuals. Anand was chased, beaten and threatened with violence, prompting him to seek refuge at the Izzatnagar police station, where he filed a report against the attackers. The incident, captured on video and shared widely on social media, has led to religious tension in the area. The Bareilly Police registered a case and arrested six individuals.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

There have been several cases documented of Hindu men/boys being attacked specifically by Muslim groups/mobs for merely being associated or being seen with a Muslim woman in public. In most of such cases, the Hindu man is not in a relationship with the Muslim woman, however, the mob proceeds to threaten and/or assault the Hindu man for merely being associated with the Muslim woman in any capacity. The rise of such crimes stems from a particularly sinister campaign run by several Muslim ideologues and activists. The campaign claims that Hindu men are attempting to ‘lure’ Muslim women into relationships to ensure that Muslim women leave their faith and follow Hinduism. The propaganda has been spearheaded with the help of WhatsApp groups and the extensive use of social media, sans evidence of the same. In many cases, pamphlets were fabricated to lend credence to this campaign. The root of this campaign lies in the fact that several cases of sectarian crimes against Hindu women in relationships with Muslim men have been documented. In such cases, Hindu women have often been forced/pressured to convert to Islam, assaulted, threatened and even murdered owing specifically to their religious identity and their refusal to give up that religious identity to adopt Islam. To delegitimize the suffering of Hindu women when such sectarian crimes are committed against them, the theory of ‘Bhagwa Love Trap’ was floated by sections of the Muslim community. As this theory gained traction, Muslim mobs started targeting Hindu men who were seen with Muslim women. In several such cases, the Hindu man was assaulted merely for offering to drop a Muslim woman in his vehicle or being friends. The differentiating factor between such cases and legitimate cases of Hindu women being targeted while in a relationship with Muslim men is that there is no sectarian violence, and force/pressure to convert. The nature of sectarian violence against Hindu women is not about two adults in a consensual relationship, working together, studying together, or even marrying each other where religious considerations are declared. In this category of crimes, it is pertinent to remember that in none of the cases, there is an element of the Hindu man masking his identity or forced religious conversion. Such cases are driven by specific religious motivations and against the religious identity of the victim and are therefore qualified as hate crimes.