Indian Judge Faces Death Threats After Convicting 14 Men in Mob Lynching Case

An Indian judge has come under intense online harassment and received death threats after sentencing 14 self-styled “cow vigilantes” to life imprisonment for the 2022 lynching of a cattle trader in the central state of Madhya Pradesh. On June 12, Additional District and Sessions Judge Tabassum Khan found the men guilty of murder, attempted murder, rioting, and wrongful restraint.

The case centered on the killing of 50-year-old Nazir Ahmad, who was transporting cattle when he and two companions were stopped by a group of alleged “gau rakshaks,” or cow protectors. According to the court, the men dragged the victims from their vehicle and assaulted them with sticks and iron rods on suspicion of cattle smuggling. Ahmad died from his injuries, while the two other victims survived. In her judgment, Judge Khan described the assault as a clear case of mob lynching.

Following the verdict, unrest broke out outside the courtroom as relatives of the convicted men attempted to block the police convoy transporting them to prison. The ruling was followed by an online hate campaign targeting Judge Khan, with social media posts reportedly containing communal slurs, as well as rape and death threats directed at her because of her Muslim faith.