Arif, Raheel, Shakeel, and Armaan kill Vijay for stopping them from lighting marijuana with a temple lamp

Case ID : b7c3ecf | Location : Rajkot, Gujarat, India | Date of Incident : Tue, 15 August, 2023

Case ID : b7c3ecf

Rajkot, Gujarat, India

15 August, 2023

Arif, Raheel, Shakeel, and Armaan kill Vijay for stopping them from lighting marijuana with a temple lamp

Attack resulting in death

Attacked for opposing radicals or trying to save victim

Case Summary

Hindu Shopkeeper Vijay was killed in Gujarat's Rajkot by Arif Solanki, Armaan Salim Bloch, Rahil Sharif Sandh, and Shakeel Imtiaz Parmar. Allegedly, the accused attempted to use a temple lamp to ignite marijuana in Vijay Babaria's shop, resulting in a dispute that led to his murder. Reports suggest that the accused tried to use the lamp within Rela Mandir to light their marijuana-laden cigarettes, but Vijay opposed this action. This confrontation resulted in the Muslim youths making a plan and kill Vijay.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

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. In this case, the Muslim perpetrator was trying to desecrate the Temple by lighting his cigarette with a lamp in the temple. When a non-Hindu perpetrator deliberately desecrates a temple, it is fair to conclude that religious animosity is a factor in his crime. Further, when a Hindu devotee opposed his actions owing to his faith in the sanctity of the temple, the Muslim perpetrator murdered him for his opposition. In the original crime of desecrating the temple and the subsequent murder when he was opposed is clearly driven by religious animosity and therefore, this case is being categorised as a religiously motivated hate crime.