A rampaging mob killing a hapless man is not the best of sights; but it is a living reality in India. India has a history of extra-judicial killings by men in police uniform, alternatively termed as “encounter killings”. But taking of law in hands by the mentally fevered group of persons and torturing and slaughtering of individuals in full public view is downright barbaric. This vigilantism cannot be explained away by any logic. Vigilante is defined in the Cambridge English Dictionary as a person who tries in an unofficial way to prevent crime, or to catch and punish someone who has committed a crime.
In December 2021, the Ministry of Home Affairs had informed the Lok Sabha that the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) collected data on mob lynching, hate crimes and cow vigilantism in 2017 but it was discontinued as the data was unreliable as these crimes are not defined. According to IndiaSpend, which based its report on the content analysis of news reports, "In the first six months of 2017, 20 cow-terror attacks were reported more than 75 per cent of the 2016 figure. Between 2010 and 2017, 97 per cent of all lynching attacks centred on bovine issues."
Since 2012, the country has seen around 133 cases of mob lynching and around 50 people lost their lives. Fifty-seven per cent of the victims were Muslims, and 9 per cent belonged to the Dalit community. There were 23 incidents of mob lynching in the country in 2020; whereas in 2019 there were 107 incidents of mob lynching. These figures are terrifying and a question mark on the law and order situation of the country. At present, there is no central codified law against lynching in India, but at least three states have promulgated anti-lynching laws in their region. These are Manipur, Rajasthan and West Bengal. Jharkhand has passed the law but the governor is yet to give his assent.
Denne historien er fra January 31, 2022-utgaven av India Legal.
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Denne historien er fra January 31, 2022-utgaven av India Legal.
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