Dalit Hindu woman raped, brutally beaten, and subjected to caste-based slurs by Muslim man

Case ID : ea34c58 | Location : Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Sat, 17 May, 2025

Case ID : ea34c58

Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India

17 May, 2025

Dalit Hindu woman raped, brutally beaten, and subjected to caste-based slurs by Muslim man

Hate speech against Hindus

Anti-Hindu slurs, mocking faith

Case Summary

In Indepur village in Shahjahanpur district, Uttar Pradesh, a Dalit Hindu woman was raped by 35-year-old Muslim man, Mobeen Khan. He subjected her to a brutal beating when she resisted, used casteist slurs, and issued threats to kill her. In her complaint, the woman stated that Mobeen attacked her, raped her, and when she tried to resist or raise her voice, he beat her savagely with fists, kicks, and wooden sticks. During the assault, he also used caste-based insults and threatened to kill her if she spoke out. Based on the survivor’s written complaint, Kant police registered a case under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including 64(1) for rape, 115(2) for criminal intimidation, 352 for assault, and 351(3) for causing hurt, as well as Section 3(2)(v) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. A special police operation was launched to locate and arrest the accused. Mobeen Khan was apprehended near Ramleela Ground. Following the arrest, police began immediate preparations to present the accused before the magistrate.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

The other primary category selected is - Hate Speech against Hindus. The sub-category selected is - Anti-Hindu slurs, mocking faith. Anti-Hindu slurs and the deliberate mocking of the Hindu faith owing to religious animosity involve the usage of derogatory terms, stereotypes, or offensive references to religious practices, symbols, or figures. One of the common anti-Hindu slurs used against Hindus is “cow-worshipper” and “cow piss drinker”. The intention of using this term is to demean and mock Hindus as a group and their religious beliefs since Hindus consider the cow holy. Additionally, some symbols and the slurs attached to them have a historical context that exacerbates the insult, hate, stereotyping, dehumanisation and oppression against Hindus. Cow worship has been used for centuries to denigrate Hindus, insult their faith and oppress Hindus specifically as a religious group. There has been overwhelming documentation about how cow slaughter has been used to persecute Hindus with cow meat being thrown in temples and places of worship. There has also been overwhelming documentation where cow meat (beef) has been force-fed to Hindus to either forcefully convert them to Islam or denigrate their faith. Apart from cow worship, the Swastika – which holds deep religious significance for the Hindus – has also been misinterpreted and distorted to use as a slur against Hindus. Similarly, the worship of the Shivling has been used by supremacist ideologies and religions to denigrate Hindus owing to religious animosity. Such slurs and denigration stem out of inherent animosity and hate towards Hindus and their faith, therefore, it is categorised as hate speech targeted at Hindus specifically owing to their religious identity. In this case, a Hindu Dalit woman was raped and brutally beaten by Mobeen Khan. He also issued death threats to her. However, the religious motive and animosity towards the Hindu woman are indicated by the caste slurs that were hurled at her. It can be argued that a caste-specific slur is aimed at her micro identity of belonging to the Dalit section of the Hindu community and not her Hindu identity itself. However, as far as Abrahamic religions are concerned, the micro identities of caste, region, and language are secondary. It is the religious identity that drives the animosity of the perpetrator against the Hindu victim. In this case, while Mobeen hurled caste abuses at the victim, the animosity was driven by his animosity towards Hinduism and Hindus. The fact that caste slurs were hurled at the victim by the perpetrator makes it a religiously motivated hate crime against the victim. Disclaimer: Here it becomes important to note that none of the media reports on this case mention the exact date, month or year when the rape occurred. Therefore, to document this case, we have chosen a date, which is not accurate but only indicative.