M'luru Lynching Result of 'Hate Crime': Report

As a consequence of this hate propaganda, many people have internalized this hate. Acting out of this hate, a mob lynched a Muslim ragpicker, Mohammed Ashraf, next to a cricket ground. FACT-FINDING REPORT

- Arun Dev

BENGALURU: Five days after terrorists killed 26 tourists in Pahalgam, a 39-year-old Muslim ragpicker from Kerala was beaten to death near a cricket ground near Mangaluru. According to an independent fact-finding report, the lynching was not a spontaneous act of violence but a direct consequence of the "hate-filled atmosphere" that followed the April 22 attack.

On April 27, Mohammed Ashraf, who collected discarded plastic to sell, was lynched in Kudupu, a village on the outskirts of Mangaluru, after allegedly picking up an empty water bottle near a local cricket match. The report—published by the People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR), and All India Lawyers Association for Justice (AILAJ)—called his murder a "hate crime" shaped by communal mobilization and police apathy.

The 164-page report, Lost Fraternity: A Mob Lynching in Broad Daylight—A Betrayal of the Promise of the Constitution, was released on Saturday.

"As a consequence of this hate propaganda, many people have internalized this hate. Acting out of this hate, a mob lynched a Muslim ragpicker—Mohammed Ashraf—next to a cricket ground," the report stated.