Muslim mob assaults Hindu man for being friends with Muslim girl, Islamists online justify attack

Case ID : c6b56ac | Location : Patna, Bihar, India | Date of Incident : Sun, 14 May, 2023

Case ID : c6b56ac

Patna, Bihar, India

14 May, 2023

Muslim mob assaults Hindu man for being friends with Muslim girl, Islamists online justify attack

Men attacked for being associated with non-Hindu women

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

Hate speech against Hindus

Violent threats

Case Summary

On May 15, 2023, in Bihar's Patna, a Hindu man was violently attacked by a Muslim mob because he was friends with a Muslim girl. The incident occurred when they were riding a bike together and were confronted by the mob, who verbally abused and assaulted them. The mob accused the Hindu man of trapping the Muslim girl in a 'Bhagwa Love Trap', and subjected him to severe beating. Despite the girl's attempts to intervene by explaining their friendship, the mob disregarded and schooled her, insisting she go home. The video of the assault went viral, drawing attention to the lack of police intervention, despite the incident happening in a busy market area with officers present. The Muslim netizens, meanwhile, supported the mob who thrashed the Hindu man, after the video went viral over the internet. The Muslim netizens suggested that "correct" action was being taken by the mob against the Hindu man, justifying the attack on the Hindu youth. “Muslim ladki ko ghumayega to hum kya dehte rahenge? Kaat dalenge. (We’ll not just see, we’ll kill them if found roaming around with Muslim girl),” one of the users Mohammad Rehmat Alam said.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been documented in the tracker under two prime categories. The first is- Man attacked for being associated with a non-Hindu woman. Under this, the sub-category selected is- Attacked/killed for being associated or suspicion of being associated with Muslim woman- 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. The second prime category applicable in this case is- Hate speech against Hindus and under this, the sub-category chosen is- Violent threats- Violent threats, explicit, implicit or implied, is the most dangerous form of hate speech since it goes beyond discriminatory and prejudicial language to express the intent of causing harm to an individual or a group of people based on their religious identity and faith. There could be several different kinds of threats that are issued to Hindus based on religious animosity. An explicit threat would mean the direct threat of violence towards an individual Hindu, a group of Hindus or Hindus at large. Physical violence, death threats, threats of destruction of property belonging to Hindus and threats of genocide would mean explicit threats against Hindus for their religious identity. Implicit threats may not be a direct threat but implied through the use of symbols of actions – for example – in the Nupur Sharma case, other than explicit threats, there were also implicit threats when Islamists took to the streets to burn and beat her effigies. It implies that they want to do the same to Nupur Sharma – thereby is considered an implicit threat. Violent threats can be delivered in person, through letters, phone calls, graffiti, or increasingly through social media and other online platforms. It would be important to understand that a threat – explicit or implicit, online or offline – to an individual who happens to be a Hindu does not qualify as a religiously motivated threat. Such a threat, while vile and dangerous, could be owing to non-religious reasons and/or personal animosity. To qualify as a religiously motivated threat, it would need to exhibit an indication that the individual is being targeted for religious reasons and/or owing to his/her religious identity as a Hindu. In Patna, a Muslim mob assaulted and abused a Hindu man for being friends with a Muslim girl, further demonstrating the dangers of religious intolerance and bigotry. The attack was not limited to physical violence; Muslim netizens quickly rallied online, justifying the assault while issuing violent threats against the Hindu youth. This incident qualifies as a religiously motivated hate crime as the Hindu youth was specifically targeted and attacked for his religious identity. The mob's assault was driven by the fact that the young man was Hindu and had befriended a Muslim girl. The online responses, where Muslim netizens lauded the mob and issued violent threats, further reinforced the religious bias at the core of the attack. The use of the 'Bhagwa Love Trap' narrative, a conspiracy theory crafted to harass Hindu men, reveals the religious animosity behind the assault, highlighting how the youth's Hindu identity became the basis for both the physical and verbal violence against him. This combination of religious intolerance, physical violence, and online threats underscores the nature of the crime as one motivated by religious hatred.