A Muslim judge in India’s Madhya Pradesh, Tabassum Khan, has faced online rape and death threats after sentencing 14 self-styled “cow protectors” to life imprisonment over the mob killing of a man.
On June 12, Tabassum Khan, an additional district and sessions judge of a Madhya Pradesh court, convicted the 14 on multiple charges including murder, attempted murder, rioting and illegal confinement, and sentenced them to life imprisonment.
The case dates from 2022. At that time, 50-year-old Nazir Ahmad was transporting cattle at night when a group of self-styled “cow protectors” armed with sticks and iron rods blocked his vehicle. On suspicion of cattle smuggling, Nazir Ahmad and his two companions were dragged from the vehicle and brutally beaten. Seriously injured, Nazir Ahmad later died; his two companions survived and gave evidence in court.
In her verdict, Judge Tabassum Khan described it as “a clear case of mob lynching.”
After the verdict, relatives of the convicts protested in the court precincts, claiming they had been punished for “protecting cows.” Hateful videos about the judge then spread one after another on social media, with various right-wing Hindutva influencers attacking the judge in communal language and issuing rape and death threats against her.
Former Supreme Court justice Markandey Katju said the attacks were not merely criticism of the verdict but an attempt to question the judge’s judicial authority by foregrounding her religious identity. A decision should be assessed in the light of the legal basis of the verdict, not the judge’s religion, he said.
The Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association (SCAORA) and the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) condemned the incident, demanding that those making the threats be quickly brought under the law. SCBA president Vikas Singh said intimidating judges was extremely dangerous for democracy, and that ensuring justice would not be possible if judges could not perform their duties without fear.
Police said a case had already been filed over the incident and two people arrested, and that the cyber unit was working to identify the source of the inflammatory videos spreading on social media. Meanwhile, the Madhya Pradesh High Court has sought an explanation from the officials concerned about the steps taken to ensure Judge Tabassum Khan’s safety, and has ordered that the police protection provided to her be maintained.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report