Indian judge receives death threats after convicting Hindu men in cow‑vigilante lynching case

Tabassum Khan, a district judge in Uttar Pradesh, has become the target of a wave of online abuse after she handed down convictions against 14 Hindu men in a high‑profile lynching case. The men were found guilty of murdering a Muslim teenager in 2022, a verdict that was delivered last month following a six‑month trial that examined CCTV footage, eyewitness statements and forensic evidence. The court sentenced the accused to varying terms of imprisonment, with several receiving life sentences, marking one of the most significant convictions in a series of communal violence cases that have drawn national attention.

In the days following the judgment, Khan’s social‑media profiles were inundated with hostile comments, threats and hate speech, prompting the police to register a complaint and launch an investigation into the harassment. Authorities have warned that such attacks on members of the judiciary undermine the rule of law and have urged the public to refrain from spreading defamatory content. The incident highlights the growing challenges faced by the Indian judicial system in maintaining impartiality amid heightened communal tensions.