Muslim judge in India faces death threats after convicting ‘cow vigilantes’

An Indian judge has become the target of online harassment and death threats, days after sentencing 14 men to life imprisonment for lynching a man to death.

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

The crime took place in 2022, when 50-year-old Nazir Ahmad was transporting cattle at night when he was waylaid by a self-styled group of “gau rakshaks” (cow protectors) armed with sticks. Hindus consider cows sacred and killing them is illegal in many states.

The men dragged Ahmed and his two friends out of the vehicle on suspicion of cow smuggling and brutally attacked them. While Ahmed later succumbed to his injuries, his friends survived and told the court what happened.

In his decision, Khan noted that the crime was a clear case of mob lynching.

But the decision made him a target of religious hatred. In the days following the decision, numerous videos containing harassment and threats against Muslim Khan emerged online. The videos implied that Khan acted against the men because they were Hindus.

Although the decisions were frequently criticized, attacks against Khan focused on his religion, not his legal justifications. The extent of the harassment led the leading judicial bodies to rally behind him and he was given police protection.

The attacks on Khan began after the verdict, when family members of the convicts gathered outside the courtroom. reportedly protested the decision and tried to stop the police convoy from taking the men to prison. They claimed the men were being punished for “saving cows”.

Then it started online abuse campaignVideos began to emerge of Hindu right-wing influencers abusing Khan with social slurs and issuing rape and death threats against him.

In one video, a man warned that there would be “bloodshed” across the country if convicts were not released within 10 days. At the time of this writing, most of the videos remain online and have received thousands of likes and shares. The faces and social media accounts of speakers making threats and inciting violence were clearly visible.

An anchor of Sudarshan News, a right-wing Indian news channel, expressed solidarity with the families of the convicts and said, “They may never have imagined that their family members who risked everything to save the cows would be imprisoned for this.” He also urged his audience to “raise their voices”, saying “now is the time to fight for the defenders of cows”.

Many self-described cow protection organizations and Hindutva groups also staged massive protests against the decision.

On June 22, the Gau Raksha Parishad (roughly meaning council of cow saviors) held a protest in Punjab province, during which protesters attacked and burned a statue of Khan. Three days later, the Rashtriya Bajrang Dal staged a protest in the state of Uttar Pradesh, demanding the release of the “cow protectors”.

Former Supreme Court judge Markandey Katju, in a post on

“Muslim identity became the main basis on which the legitimacy of the decision was questioned. This represented a dangerous subversion of justice. Judicial decisions need to be evaluated through legal reasoning, not on the religious identity of the person making them.”

Katju later said Khan sent her a message thanking her, saying the harassment traumatized her and made her feel like she had committed a crime by passing judgment.

Khan also received support from leading judicial bodies. Supreme Court Registered Lawyers Association (SCAARA) and Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) condemned the threats against it and demanded action against the perpetrators.

SCBA president Vikas Singh told the BBC that threats to judges were a serious problem as the judiciary was linked to the foundations of democracy.

“No judge can dispense justice if we allow this to happen,” he said. “In a democracy, a judge must be able to perform his duties without fear or favour.”

Meanwhile, police official Sudhakar Baraskar told the BBC that a case has been registered under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and two people have been arrested. He said the cyber cell keeps track of those who share provocative videos and constantly monitors social media for more such content.

However, Supreme Court lawyer Sanjay Hegde argued that the state and the judiciary should have done more to ensure Khan’s safety.

In his article on the legal news site Live Law, Hegde gave an example of how another recent case involving threats against a former judge was handled.

Former Bombay High Court judge Gautam Patel and his family were facing threats for over 10 months Following its decision in 2024 in the succession dispute within a Muslim community.

Following a public interest litigation filed by three judicial bodies, the Bombay High Court ordered the Maharashtra government to provide protection to Patel. He told the Mumbai police commissioner to supervise the investigation and demanded a status report.

“If a retired supreme court judge deserves state protection and judicial review of his case, a sitting judge in a district court deserves the same. This principle cannot be bent by rank. It cannot be bent by religion. It cannot be bent by the political climate around a particular decision,” Hegde wrote.

Last week, the Madhya Pradesh High Court asked senior officials to explain what steps were taken to protect Khan and identify those behind the threats. He also ordered continued police protection.