Datanomics: Lynching persists in India despite laws and low conviction

Only four states have enacted anti-lynching laws: Manipur, Rajasthan, West Bengal, and Jharkhand

Earlier this month, a cloth vendor was allegedly lynched in Bihar over his religious identity. Between 2014 and 2023, India recorded 189 lynching cases — less than 1 per cent of over 526,000 incidents of mob violence. As of 2025, only Manipur, Rajasthan, West Bengal and Jharkhand have anti-lynching laws.

 

Mob violence cases slowing down

 

Mob violence cases in India fell to 39,274 in 2023 from 66,044 in 2014. Lynching incidents were 0.01-0.11 per cent of such cases during the same period. 

 

‘Big problem’

  A 2021 Pew Research survey had found that 65% of Indians considered communal violence a ‘big problem’ in India. 

 

Nearly half of police force justifies mob violence

 

The Status of Policing in India Report 2025 by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) found that over half of constabulary as well as IPS officers justify or partially justify mob violence as a form of punishment. 

 

Lynching hotspots 

Several major lynching cases have been reported from Bihar, MP, Maharashtra, UP, and Jharkhand.