MEERUT: According to human rights advocacy group Amnesty International, in the first six months of 2018, 100 hate crimes have been committed against people from marginalised groups including dalits, Adivasis, members of racial or religious minority groups and transgender people across the country. Uttar Pradesh, with 18 such crimes, had the highest number among Indian states, followed by Gujarat with 13 cases, Rajasthan (eight) and Tamil Nadu and Bihar with seven cases each.
The report comes during the ongoing investigation into a lynching in Hapur, where a local man named Mohammad Qasim was assaulted by a mob over suspicion of cow slaughter in June. The lone survivor, 62-year-old Samaydeen has contested the initial police claim that the lynching was triggered by road rage instead of cow slaughter rumours.
The human rights’ group began documenting hate crimes in the country after Mohammad Akhlaq was killed in Dadri, UP for allegedly storing beef at home in September 2015. Since then, 603 hate crimes have been recorded in an interactive website, ‘Halt the Hate’, run by Amnesty.
The Amnesty report stated that in the first six months of 2018, a total of 67 hate crimes against dalits and 22 against Muslims were recorded across the country.
Please click here to read more.