Hindi minor boy lynched for opposing molestation of his sister by Muslim village head in Muslim-dominated village

Case ID : e97a211 | Location : Prayagraj (Allahabad), Uttar Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Fri, 1 September, 2023

Case ID : e97a211

Prayagraj (Allahabad), Uttar Pradesh, India

1 September, 2023

Hindi minor boy lynched for opposing molestation of his sister by Muslim village head in Muslim-dominated village

Attack resulting in death

Attacked for Hindu identity

Attacked for opposing radicals or trying to save victim

Case Summary

On 28 August 2023, a minor student named Satyam was lynched to death in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. Some minors, along with the main accused Yusuf, were arrested by the police. Yusuf is said to be the village head who has as many as 5 criminal cases against him. The reason for the murder is said to be Satyam’s opposition to the accused molesting his cousin. In what transpired, the accused had molested the deceased's sister in school. Satyam protested against the same. Irked by Satyam's intervention, Yusuf and his aides threatened to kill him. The same day, when Satyam was returning home after school. Yusuf along with his associates attacked him with sticks and sharp weapons in front of his house. Satyam’s sister begged for his brother's life by bowing before Mohammad Yusuf but to no avail. Satyam died on the spot. Speaking to OpIndia, a local resident of Kheeri and an office-bearer of the Hindu organisation said that the Turkpurwa village where Satyam was killed has a negligible Hindu population. He said that many Muslims in Turkpurwa have illegally occupied government land. Also, people in the vicinity have to face crimes like buffalo theft and sheep theft. Vishwa Hindu Parishad, meanwhile, described Satyam's murder as a well-planned conspiracy to provoke Hindus.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

The category under which this case has been placed in the hate tracker is 'attack resulting in death' and the sub-category chosen under this category is, 'attacked for Hindu identity'. In several cases, Hindus are attacked merely for their Hindu identity without any perceived provocation. A classic example of this category of religiously motivated hate crime is a murder in 2016. 7 ISIS terrorists were convicted for shooting a school principal in Kanpur because they got ‘triggered’ seeing the Kalava on his wrist and tilak that he had put. In this, the Hindu victim had offered no provocation except for his Hindu religious identity. The motivation for the murder was purely religious, driven by religious supremacy. Such cases where Hindus are targeted merely for their religious identity would be documented as a hate crime. Under this category, cases where the attack led to the death of the Hindu victim/s would be documented. Another thread in this crime is attacked for opposing radicals. 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. Under this category, cases where the attack led to the death of the Hindu victim/s would be documented. Here, the trigger for the attack on the Hindu youth was his opposition to the molestation of his sister by the Muslim accused and his aides. Here, it may be argued that the initial trigger of the attack was not religious in nature, however, the fact that the area where the victim resided was Muslim-dominated and Hindus living there themselves testified that they were regularly targeted for their religious identity, makes this case worthy of being documented here. Locals revealed that many Muslims in Turkpurwa have illegally occupied government land. They used to harass the Hindus by regularly stealing cattle belonging to them. Islamists' long-standing animosity towards Hinduism is at the heart of these kinds of unwarranted attacks that target Hindus exclusively; for this reason, this case has been classified as a hate crime with religious motivations.