Case Summary

In the Deoranian area of Bareilly, a five-year-old Hindu girl was raped by a 35-year-old Muslim man named Aqeel Ahmed. The accused lured the victim with a toffee. Hinduphobia Tracker contacted the police regarding this case, and they confirmed that the victim is a Hindu girl. According to reports, the girl was playing with her friends at around 5:30 pm when Aqeel lured her away, took her to the bathroom of the village school, and raped her. People rushed to the scene after hearing the girl’s screams. Locals attempted to apprehend Aqeel, but he managed to escape after threatening them. Following a complaint from the girl’s father, a case was registered against Aqeel under several sections, including the POCSO Act and rape. This instance resulted in public outrage from the villagers. In response to public anger, a police team was deployed in the Shergarh, Bhojipura, and Sheeshgarh villages to maintain peace. The police began searching for Aqeel. During the search, Aqeel attempted to flee and fired at the police, injuring Constable Rohit. The police returned fire, injuring Aqeel in the foot, and subsequently apprehended him. Weapons were found in his possession. Police revealed that Aqeel, the 35-year-old accused, was unmarried and worked as a labourer in another state. He had previously committed similar acts when he visited the village. According to the police, the girl’s condition was stable, but she was sent to the district hospital for a medical examination. As a precaution, police from several stations were deployed in the village to maintain the law and order situation.

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Why it is Hate Crime ?

In this case, a Hindu minor girl was lured by offering a toffee and subsequently raped by a Muslim man named Aqeel. This could potentially be a crime motivated by religious profiling, as it has been observed that in many cases, Muslim perpetrators target Hindu women and minor girls due to inherent animosity towards Hindus. Hindu women and girls are very vulnerable to crimes like rape and sexual assault at the hands of Muslim men. However, it is also possible that the crime was one of opportunity, where the Hindu girl was simply accessible to the Muslim perpetrator. Meanwhile, it could also be argued that for a Muslim perpetrator, a Muslim girl would likely be more accessible than a Hindu girl. The fact that the perpetrator specifically targeted the Hindu girl could suggest religious profiling of the victim. Nevertheless, this remains speculative, as the case details provide no clear indication of religious motivations. Furthermore, neither the victim nor her family made any statements suggesting a religious motive behind the crime. For this reason, this case has been added to the 'Undecided' database. If further information emerges that hints towards a religious motivation behind this crime, then it would be reclassified and included under the Hate Crime database.