NEW DELHI: A Muslim man was beaten to death for dating a Hindu girl in India, police said on Friday, in the latest mob violence against minorities in the country.

Mohammad Shalik, 20, was set upon by dozens of people from the town where he lived after he was spotted dropping off his girlfriend on his scooter near her home in the Gumla district of eastern Jharkhand state.

The mob tied him to a pole in front of the girl and lashed at him with sticks and belts in an ordeal that lasted for hours late Wednesday. He died of his injuries on Thursday, police said.

“We are trying to find whether the mob was instigated by the (girl’s) family,” Chandan Kumar Jha, Gumla police chief said.

He said three people have been arrested and more were wanted over the killing, which is being treated as religiously motivated.

The young couple had been together for about a year and had faced threats in the past, Jha said.

Published in Dawn, April 8th, 2017

Opinion

Editorial

On press freedoms
Updated 03 May, 2026

On press freedoms

THE citizenry forgets, to its own peril, how important a free and independent media is in the preservation of their...
Inflation strain
03 May, 2026

Inflation strain

PAKISTAN’S return to double-digit inflation after 21 months signals renewed economic strain where external shocks...
Troubled waters
03 May, 2026

Troubled waters

PAKISTAN’S water crisis is often framed in terms of scarcity. Increasingly, it is also a crisis of contamination....
Iran stalemate
Updated 02 May, 2026

Iran stalemate

THE US and Iran are currently somewhere between war and peace. While a tenuous ceasefire — extended largely due to...
Tax shortfall
02 May, 2026

Tax shortfall

THE Rs684bn shortfall in tax collection during the first 10 months of the fiscal year is a continuation of a...
Teaching inclusion
02 May, 2026

Teaching inclusion

DISCRIMINATORY and exclusionary content in Punjab’s textbooks has been flagged in Inclusive Education for a United...