Muslim judge in India faces death threats after convicting ‘cow vigilantes’ for murder
A Muslim judge in India has come under heavy online attack and received death threats after convicting 14 “cow vigilantes” over the lynching of a cattle trader.
On 12 June, Additional District and Sessions Judge Tabassum Khan of Madhya Pradesh sentenced 14 men to life imprisonment after finding them guilty of murder, attempted murder, rioting, and wrongful restraint.
The case stemmed from the 2022 killing of 50-year-old Nazir Ahmad, who was transporting cattle when he and two companions were stopped by a group of self-styled “gau rakshaks,” or “cow protectors.”
Armed with sticks and iron rods, the group dragged the three men from their vehicle and beat them on suspicion of cattle smuggling, leaving Ahmad fatally injured while his companions survived.
In her ruling, Khan described the attack as a clear case of mob lynching and sentenced the 14 men to life in prison.
The verdict triggered riots outside the courtroom, where relatives of the convicted men attempted to block the police convoy transporting them to prison.
An online hate campaign soon followed, with videos targeting Khan over her Muslim faith and containing communal slurs, rape threats, and death threats.
In one widely shared video, a speaker warned of “bloodshed” unless the convicted men were released within 10 days.
Several Hindu nationalist groups and self-described cow protection organizations also staged demonstrations demanding the convicts’ release.
Former Supreme Court judge Markandey Katju condemned the campaign, warning that it sought to undermine Khan’s judicial authority because of her religion rather than the legal merits of the verdict.
“Judicial decisions are meant to be evaluated through legal reasoning, not through the religious identity of the individual delivering them,” he wrote.
The Supreme Court Bar Association and the Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association also denounced the threats and called for those responsible to be brought to justice.
Police have arrested two suspects and launched an investigation, while the Madhya Pradesh High Court ordered authorities to maintain Khan's security and identify those behind the threats.
The case has renewed concerns among rights groups that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist agenda has emboldened extremist groups and fueled hostility toward Muslims.
Senior Congress leader Pawan Khera condemned the campaign, saying the 14 men “were not convicted because of their religion; they were convicted because the investigation found them guilty of rioting, attempted murder and murder.”
“The outrage is reserved for one fact alone: that the judge who convicted them is a Muslim woman,” Khera said, adding that “in Modi's India, however, those spewing hate walk free.”
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