Muslim youths attempt to abduct a Hindu girl from her engagement, pelt stones from a 'mosque'; Hindu women in Sonipat's 'Masjid Gali' complain of regular harassment

Case ID : e97a519 | Location : Sonipat, Haryana, India | Date of Incident : Thu, 29 June, 2023

Case ID : e97a519

Sonipat, Haryana, India

29 June, 2023

Muslim youths attempt to abduct a Hindu girl from her engagement, pelt stones from a 'mosque'; Hindu women in Sonipat's 'Masjid Gali' complain of regular harassment

Attack not resulting in death

Attacked for Hindu identity

Attacked to induce migration from non-Hindu dominated area

Case Summary

In Sonipat, Hindu women living in Khan Colony faced harassment from Muslim boys in Masjid Gali. Approximately 250 families reside in Khan Gali, with 150 Muslim families from Bihar-UP and around 100 Hindu families. Hindu residents complained of difficulties in marrying their daughters due to harassment by Muslim youths, who made obscene comments about women. In one such incident, Muslim youths attempted to abduct a Hindu girl from her engagement ceremony, leading to stone pelting and injuries to several Hindus. The Hindus also testified that stones were pelted at their homes from a mosque. Police initially delayed registering the case but later arrested two suspects. Muslim youths also sent obscene messages to the girl's fiancé, attempting to break the engagement.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

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. In this case, the villagers belonging to the Hindu community testified that the members of the Muslim community specifically targeted them for their religious identity. The youths of the aggressor community (Muslims) harassed Hindu girls and women. The Hindu residents complained of difficulties in marrying their daughters due to harassment by Muslim youths. In one instance, the Muslim youths also tried to abduct a Hindu girl from her engagement ceremony. The Hindus also testified that stones were pelted at their homes from a Muslim religious place (mosque). An attack on a specific religious community by another group is categorised as a hate crime because it is motivated by bias and aims to harm individuals based on their religious identity. Another sub-category this case is being added to is 'attacked for inducing migration'. There have been cases where the Hindus living in an area, often with a majority dwelling belonging to non-Hindus or those harbouring animosity towards the Hindu faith, the Hindu residents experience threats and violence. The violence is employed with the aim of making the Hindus leave the area and relocate, so the area could be turned into an exclusive ghetto for adherents of the non-Hindu faith or those who harbor animosity towards the Hindu faith. In several cases, the aim of exodus is explicit. However, in several cases, the demand for exodus of Hindu residents is not explicit, however, violence by non-Hindu residents leaves the Hindu residents no option but to leave the area, thereby, turning the area into an exclusive ghetto of non-Hindu residents. In such cases, there are instances violence against the Hindu residents explicitly. For example, in the Hauz Qazi case of 2019, the Muslim residents claimed that mob violence against the Hindu residents had been triggered by a parking dispute. However, the violence did turn religious with a temple being desecrated and was directed specifically against the Hindu residents. The Hindu residents of the area were clear that the violence was religiously motivated and one of the motives was to affect an exodus of the Hindu residents. In such cases, even though the perpetrators have not explicitly expressed the aim of affecting exodus, the given circumstances and violence and precedent point to the intention of exodus and therefore would be categorized under this sub-category. Such crimes are religiously motivated and therefore are hate crimes. This thread of the crime is not explicitly stated in the case details, however, in this case, Hindus have on record stated that the Muslim majority population of the area regularly harasses Hindus in myriad ways. It is often seen that the Hindu residents of a Muslim majority area are persecuted and harassed by the Muslim residents to induce migration, so the area can be turned into an exclusive Muslim no-go zone. This case has similar threads of persecution of Hindus and is therefore being added to this category. Note: In this case, the potential victim count is much higher. However, according to the details of the case, there is one confirmed woman victim who the Muslim mob attempted to abduct. Therefore, this case is documenting only one victim for the sake of accuracy.