Madhya Pradesh: Muslim judge receives death threats after convicting seven men in lynching case

A Muslim judge in Madhya Pradesh’s Narmadapuram district has received death threats and faced communal abuse after she sentenced seven men to life imprisonment in a 2022 case where a truck driver was assaulted by a group that claimed he was a cattle smuggler, Bar and Bench reported on Wednesday.

On June 12, Additional District and Sessions Judge Tabassum Khan sentenced seven men for killing truck driver Sheikh Lala Nazir Ahmed in Barakhar village of Seoni Malwa tehsil.

Soon after, videos containing death threats and communal slurs were shared on social media, Bar and Bench reported. Videos also showed effigies of the judge being burnt in some of the protests.

On June 23, the police registered a first information report against unidentified persons under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita pertaining to promoting enmity and using words to deliberately hurt religious feelings, Newslaundry reported.

Narmadapuram Additional Superintendent of Police Abhishek Ranjan told The Indian Express that the judge’s security has been increased while the investigation is underway.

“The accused are yet to be identified,” Ranjan was quoted as saying. “We are taking the help of various units to track down those behind the social media posts.”

Congress leader Vivek Tankha condemned the abuse faced by Khan and said the “silence of the higher judiciary and the government” was “more shocking” than...

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