Muslim man hacked to death in India

38-year-old Indian Union Muslim League worker was killed on his way to the mosque

An Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) worker was hacked to death while on his way to a mosque in India's southwestern state of Kerala.

According to Gulf News, the incident took place in Tanur town on Thursday, October 24.

The deceased worker, identified as 38-year old Ishaq, was attacked by a group of armed men around 7:30pm while he was headed for prayer. He was shifted to a hospital where he succumbed to his injuries, reported Times of India.

The IUML leaders alleged that the Communist Party of India (Marxist) workers were behind the murder.

The police registered a case under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

In the wake of the incident, security was heightened in Tanur town.

Hindu woman saves Muslim family from mob attack in India

This isn't the first cases of violence as attacks against minority groups in India have become widespread.

Earlier this month, Amnesty International reported that 181 incidents of hate crimes were recorded in the first half of this year.

This was a steep rise since 2015.

The count is almost double that of the same period last year, when 100 such cases were recorded.

Over two-thirds of the victims were targeted because they were Dalits, while 40 of them suffered on account of their Muslim identity.

In 37 reported incidents, the victims were killed, according to the report. In 30 cases, victims were raped or sexually assaulted, with sexual harassment in another 19 cases.