New Delhi, Mar. 6, 2019: More than 200 alleged hate crimes against marginalised people, including 87 killings, were documented by Amnesty India’s interactive “Halt the Hate” website in 2018. About 65% of the crimes were against Dalits.
Of the 218 documented incidents, 142 were against Dalits, 50 against Muslims, and eight each against Christians, adivasis and transgender people. There were 97 incidents of assault and 87 killings reported. Of the 40 incidents of sexual violence, Dalit women were victims in 33 cases.
For the third straight year, Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest number of reported crimes, with 57 such incidents.
For the third straight year, Uttar Pradesh was the State with the highest number of reported crimes, with 57 such incidents. Gujarat, with 22 incidents, and Rajasthan, with 18 such cases, came next on the list.
“The first step to ensuring justice and ending impunity for hate crimes — where people are targeted because they belong to a particular group — is to highlight their occurrence,” Amnesty India executive director Aakar Patel said in a statement. “Legal reforms that enable recording of hate crimes and strengthen accountability must be a priority for any government that comes to power following the upcoming general election.”
“The data on our website is only a snapshot of alleged hate crimes in India, and is not comprehensive by any means,” said Mr. Patel, noting that many incidents are not reported to the police or reported by the media. “While criminal investigations have been initiated in some cases, several have gone unpunished. Authorities need to do much more to ensure justice for victims and their families.”
Amnesty has been tracking hate crimes since the lynching of Mohammad Akhlaq in Dadri, Uttar Pradesh, in September 2015. It has documented 721 such incidents since then.
(The Hindu)