According to a report released by human rights advocacy group Amnesty International India, Tamil Nadu stands at the fourth position in terms of hate crimes in India.
The report has taken into account the number of such crimes against people based on their caste, religion and ethnicity, as reported till June 2018.
The report, which was released on July 13, said that 100 hate crimes were allegedly committed against people from marginalised groups. Of the 100 crimes, 18 instances took place in Uttar Pradesh and 13 in Gujarat.
Eight incidents of hate crime have come to light in Rajasthan, while Bihar and Tamil Nadu accounts for seven incidents each.
From Tamil Nadu, the incidents of caste-based violence reported from Vellore, Villupuram, Thanjavur, Sivaganga, Madurai and Kanyakumari districts have been taken into account.
In Villupuram district, the police found an eight-year-old boy killed, his 14-year-old sister allegedly sexually assaulted and their widowed mother brutally attacked at their home in a Dalit colony in Vellamputhur village, in February. Although the police claimed the incident was not a sexual assault and caste-based crime, activists alleged that there were land disputes between the family and the members of the Vanniyar community, who lived in the neighbouring village.
In another caste-based violence in Tamil Nadu, three Dalits were killed when a gang of attackers, allegedly belonging to the dominant caste in that region, unleashed violence on the victims. The incident took place in Kachanatham village in Sivaganga district, in May.
“In just the first six months of 2018, 67 incidents of alleged hate crimes against Dalits and 22 against Muslims were recorded. Forty-two incidents involved killings and 13 involved sexual violence against women from marginalised groups,” the press release stated. It also pointed out that cow-related violence and ‘honour killings’ were among the most common instances of alleged hate crimes.
Amnesty International India published the figures in their interactive website, Halt the Hate, which allows people to document the hate crimes reported in their regions.
“The data on our website is just a snapshot of alleged hate crimes in India. Many incidents are not reported in the media. While criminal investigations have been initiated in some cases, too many have gone unpunished. Authorities need to do much more to ensure justice for victims and their families,” said Aakar Patel, the Executive Director of Amnesty International India through the press release.
In 2017, Tamil Nadu stood at the third place in India for hate crimes in India with 17 incidents, reported the website. In 2016, the figures were much higher, with Tamil Nadu accounting for 28 of the 240 incidents of hate crimes reported in India, the second highest tally only next to Uttar Pradesh.