Muslim mob assaults Hindu student for having dinner with Muslim classmate, had noticed Kalava on his wrist

Case ID : ac55e70 | Location : Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Wed, 24 May, 2023

Case ID : ac55e70

Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India

24 May, 2023

Muslim mob assaults Hindu student for having dinner with Muslim classmate, had noticed Kalava on his wrist

Men attacked for being associated with non-Hindu women

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

Case Summary

On May 25, 2023, a Hindu boy was attacked by a mob of 20-30 Muslim youths, in the Tukoganj area of Indore, Madhya Pradesh. The attack occurred as he was returning with a Muslim girl after having dinner at Madani Darbar Hotel near Patel Bridge. The mob started chasing Bhavesh Sunhare and Nasreen Sultana after noticing Bhavesh’s Kalava, and Nasreen’s hijab. Both Bhavesh and Nasreen are third-year MBBS students. The mob surrounded the victim duo in the Gwaltoli area and objected to the girl roaming with a Hindu boy. Nasreen told the mob that she had informed her parents about her dinner plans with Bhavesh. The Muslim youths said that the girl was disrespecting Islam by going out with a non-Muslim boy. “You are wearing a Hijab but are not following the law (of Islam),” the man shouted at the girl. Some people confronted the Muslim mob, accusing them of assaulting the Hindu boy. This led to a confrontation between the two groups. The men who came to the duo’s rescue were stabbed with a knife near the Rajkumar Bridge. Two cases were registered and six accused persons (Shoaib, Shavez Lala, Muzzamin, Amin Lala, Said and Arbaaz) were arrested.

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.