Muslim hawker’s killing linked to wider hostility in India: report
Civil rights group says itinerant traders from Muslim community face growing insecurity and calls for impartial investigation into Akbar Ali Mondal's death
NEW DELHI, India (MNTV) — A fact-finding report into the killing of a Muslim street vendor in eastern India has warned that the case reflects a broader pattern of insecurity and discrimination faced by itinerant traders from minority communities, arguing that fear and suspicion have increasingly become part of their daily lives.
The report, released by the Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR), examines the death of 45-year-old Akbar Ali Mondal, a hawker from West Bengal’s Bankura district who was beaten to death while selling household goods in a neighboring district earlier this month. The civil rights organization says the incident raises concerns extending beyond a single act of violence.
According to the report, Mondal confronted a customer who allegedly took goods without paying. Investigators say the man later returned carrying a stick and repeatedly struck the vendor, inflicting fatal head injuries before allegedly hiding the body inside a cattle shed.
Police have arrested the accused, identified as Biswanath Mahato, and say a video of the assault recorded by a woman at the scene forms part of the ongoing investigation.
While the dispute appears to have originated over payment for merchandise, the fact-finding team says conversations with local residents revealed a deeper atmosphere of distrust toward Muslim hawkers and traders arriving from neighboring villages.
The report states that several residents described Muslim street vendors as being viewed with suspicion and treated differently from local sellers, particularly those coming from areas with large Muslim populations.
The report also documents accounts suggesting that a number of minority hawkers have stopped traveling to the region or returned to their native villages because of safety concerns.
Mondal’s family fears religion may have played a role in the attack. His son, Zulfiqar Ali Mondal, told the delegation that he believes his father may have been targeted because he was a Muslim vendor from outside the village. His widow described him as a hardworking man with no known enemies and said the family has lost its only source of income.
The APCR argues that the killing highlights the vulnerability of itinerant traders, many of whom depend on traveling from village to village to earn a living without institutional protection or economic security.
It warns that attacks on such workers can have consequences far beyond individual families by discouraging entire communities from pursuing their traditional livelihoods.
The organization has called for a thorough and evidence-based investigation free from communal bias, along with witness protection measures, preservation of all evidence and full legal accountability for those responsible.
It has also urged authorities to provide immediate financial assistance, long-term livelihood support and educational aid to Mondal’s family.
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