Muslim woman judge faces death threats after convicting cow vigilantes in India

A Muslim woman judge in India's Madhya Pradesh State is facing online abuse and death threats after announcing life imprisonment to 14 convicts in the 2022 mob lynching case of Nazeer Ahmed. 

On 12 June, the additional district and sessions judge of a court in Madhya Pradesh state, Tabassum Khan, found the men guilty of offences including murder, attempt to murder, rioting and wrongful restraint. 

According to reports, Judge Tabassum Khan came under a coordinated online campaign immediately after the verdict as right wing Hindu extremist influencers targeted her Muslim identity through AI-generated content. 

Indian police said Nazeer Ahmed was legally transporting cattle to a livestock market when he was stopped and beaten to death by a mob in 2022. Madhya Pradesh local court judge Tabassum Khan later handed down life imprisonment to all 14 accused after the completion of trial. 

Soon after the verdict, Hindu rightwing activists started malicious online hate campaign and protesters also burned the judge's statue.In the days following the judgement, numerous videos abusing and threatening Khan, a Muslim, surfaced online. The videos implied that Tabbasum Khan had acted against the men because they were Hindu.

While judgments are often criticised, the attacks on Khan have focused not on her legal reasoning but on her religion. The scale of the abuse has prompted leading judicial bodies to rally behind her, and she has been given police protection.

The attacks on Khan began soon after the verdict, when family members of the convicted men gathered outside the courtroom reportedly protested against the judgement and attempted to stop the police convoy from transporting the men to prison. They alleged that the men were being punished for "saving cows".

India’s former judge Markandey Katju said judicial decisions should be based on legal merit and religious identity should not be given importance.