Two incidents of religiously motivated violence have surfaced in India, highlighting deep-rooted tensions over religious conversion accusations.
On Friday, a Dalit man named Shubran from Fatehpur, Uttar Pradesh, was brutally assaulted and paraded through his village by a group of Hindutva activists after being accused of attempting to convert to Christianity. Shubran, who had been undergoing financial strain due to his son’s medical treatment, was attacked by a mob led by one Rohit Dixit. The group shaved his head, forced him to bow at a temple, and coerced him into chanting Hanuman Chalisa before parading him through the village.
In a statement, Shubran explained the background to the incident, detailing how his son had been diagnosed with an ulcer and he had been unable to afford the necessary medical care in Kanpur. Seeking an alternative, Shubran had been visiting Unnao for medicine every fortnight. He recounted that after a brief exchange with Dixit, who accused him of trying to convert people, the situation escalated. The next day, Shubran was ambushed by a mob, beaten, and humiliated in front of his family.
Shubran attempted to file a complaint, but police authorities in Fatehpur allegedly refused to take action. The Dalit community in the region has since protested against the police inaction. He has submitted a memorandum to the District Magistrate, calling for immediate legal action against the perpetrators.
In an equally horrifying incident, two tribal women were tied to a tree and beaten by a crowd in Balasore, Odisha, on December 26, under accusations of attempting to convert a Hindu man to Christianity. The incident took place in the Chhankhanpur hamlet of Mukhura village under the Remuna police station area.
The video of the incident, which went viral, shows the two women, Subasini Singh, a Christian from Makhpada village, and Sukanti Singh, a Hindu from Chhankhanpur, both in their forties, tied to a tree with the face of one woman disfigured. The crowd claimed that the women had brought a cake to celebrate the conversion of Gobind Singh, a Hindu tribal man, to Christianity. The women were surrounded by a group of men and women who humiliated them, with one man in the crowd accusing them of destroying Hindu religion and culture. The mob then raised slogans of “Bharat Mata Ki Jai” and “Jai Shri Ram” while the women stood helpless.
The police initially detained four individuals in connection with the incident, including Bapin Nayak, Pitambar Biswal, Prashant Nayak, and Badal Panda. A case has been filed under various sections of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Odisha Freedom of Religions Act, which prohibits forcible conversions. However, after negotiations between the two parties, the detained individuals were released after apologising to the women and expressing regret for their actions. Despite this, two cases remain open, and investigations continue.
The case has drawn widespread attention and protests from tribal rights groups in the region, who demand stricter action against the assailants and greater protection for vulnerable communities.
Both incidents have sparked outrage and drawn attention to the ongoing issues of caste-based violence, religious intolerance, and the violation of human rights in India. The Dalit and tribal communities, who often face the brunt of such attacks, have called for immediate legal action and stronger protections against religiously motivated violence.
Human rights organisations and activists have condemned these acts of violence and urged the government to take firm action to prevent such incidents in the future.
