Legal Regulation of Hate Crimes in India: A Look at the Current Regime and Its Shortcomings
![handle is hein.journals/ijlmhs13 and id is 1365 raw text is: International Journal of Law) Management & Humanities
Legal Regulation of Hate Crimes in India:
A Look at the Current Regime and its
Shortcomings
S. HASTHISHA DESIKANI
ABSTRACT
There is no legally consensual definition for hate crime, however the most popular
definition widely accepted is that A hate crime, also known as a bias crime, is a criminal
offense committed against a person, property, or society which is motivated, in whole or in
part, by the offender's bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or
ethnicity/national origin. 'It is mostly violent in nature while other discreet manners also
exist. In this form of crime the individual is seen as a representative of the community he is
perceived to be or is a part of and is targeted for this affiliation. This is prevalent in many
of the countries round the globe in one form or the other. India too is no exception. In India
it is more observable in its religious and caste based form although other forms also very
much form a part of the hate crimes committed. Currently there are no legislation directly
tackling hate crimes wholly but there is certain legislation to deal with them like IPC
Sec.153, 153-A, 295-A, 298 which deal with promoting enmity between two groups and
hate speech respectively and does not have a separate legislation with respect to mob
lynching.
Keywords: Hate Crimes, Violence against Women, Lynching.
I. INTRODUCTION
Hate crimes have been a plague not just in India but all over the world. It exists in many forms,
many identified and many still not designated as a hate crime. From racist crimes in many parts
of the world to misogynistic crimes all over the world, it is widely prevalent and affects many
people identifying themselves to a particular sect. A person is a victim of a hate crime because
he belongs to a particular group of people or is related to such a person. What qualifies as a
hate crime does not depend on the crime per se but depends on the motive with which it was
carried out. It is due to this precise nature of hate crime it is difficult to identify it in the first
place and is also why there is no universally accepted definition of a hate crime. It is difficult
1 Author is a student at Tamil Nadu National Law University, India.
© 2021. International Journal of Law Management & Humanities [ISSN 2581-5369]
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[Vol. 4 Iss 5; 1230]](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/ijlmhs13&div=116&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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Legal Regulation of Hate Crimes in India: A Look at the Current Regime and Its Shortcomings
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