Indian Atheist Hacked to Death After Posting Criticisms of Religion on Social Media

According to reports from India, a 31-year-old man named H. Farook was hacked to death on Thursday night by four men who were pissed off that he posted atheistic messages on a WhatsApp group and Facebook page.

At 11.15pm on Thursday, [Farook] received a phone call summoning him out of the house. His wife advised him not to go out so late at night. However, he left home, saying he would be back in 10 minutes. He had gone to a sewage treatment plant near Ukkadam on a motorcycle, where a four-member gang waylaid him.

They waylaid Farook, who attempted to escape. However, he was assaulted with sickles by the gang and suffered deep cuts to his neck and abdomen. He succumbed to his injuries on the spot.

One man, a Muslim, has already been arrested for the murder (though his lawyer is appealing) while two others have been connected with it.

It’s a quicker response time than we saw with the murders of atheists in Bangladesh — how’s that for a silver lining? — but the underlying problem is still the same. Atheists in that part of the world continue to be murdered for the crime of criticizing bad ideas. The killers aren’t afraid of death, because they believe they are fighting an eternal battle of sorts. The only way this will ever change is if Muslim leaders commit themselves to reforming the religion from the inside.

(Image via Facebook. That link includes other NSFW graphic images of Farook’s death.)