By Recently, another anti-muslim hate crime has been reported in India. A Muslim family was brutally assaulted by a mob in a passenger train in northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, one of the victims said. Reports confirmed that the incident took place on the Shikohabad-Kasgang passenger train. As a result of this, a video of the incident became viral on Friday, after which three men have been arrested by the police.
As shown in the video, a group of around 30 men with rods and sticks could be seen beating the family. Four of the family members have suffered fractures; almost all of them suffered internal stomach injuries. Reports confirmed that the victims are receiving treatment in the hospital.
In addition, one of the victims, 50-year-old Mohammad Shakir, explained to the Times of India that his family was targeted after the mob noticed that women in the family were wearing hijabs which signifies that they are muslims:
“They attacked us with iron rods, robbed our belonging and molested our women. They didn’t even spare my 17-year-old physically and mentally challenged son. They verbally abused us with some in the group saying, ‘Kill them, they are Muslims’ and they continued to beat us until we went unconscious,” he added.
On legal justification, Police have registered a case into the incident and suspects have been arrested:
“We have registered a case and based on the video of the incident, we have formed a team for questioning and arresting those involved in the incident,” superintendent of police Om Prakash Singh told Anadolu Agency.
Past reports confirmed that India has seen increased incidents of mob lynching over beef rumors in recent months. Many Muslims have suffered from hate crimes in the society has many have called on the government to do something fast about the repeated form of hate incidents.
Similarly, last month, a mob was reported to have stabbed to death a 16-year-old Muslim boy Junaid Khan on a train to Mathura from Delhi, accusing him of carrying bags full of beef. Many Muslims were furious saying that killing the innocent boy was of no basis.
Also, in a similar incident, last month, a 45-year-old Muslim trader was killed by a mob of more than 100 people in Jharkhand’s Ramgarh district on suspicions of carrying beef in his car. Cows are considered sacred in Hindu religion. After Modi came to power in 2014, many states in the country enacted harsher laws against cow slaughter.
The killing of innocent muslims just because they were carrying beef has raised a lot of questions. The government has warned against religious intolerance and also stated that whoever is found guilty in religious hate crimes will be justly prosecuted.