Authorities said that at least 14 women were targeted, and two of them suffered broken wrists during the assault.
“It’s very clear that these women were targeted for no other reason than for wearing bindis, saris and were a lot of times around temples of Indian or Hindu sites,” said Samir Kalra with the Hindu American Foundation.
Because the victims were all targeted on the basis of their identity, the attacks were all considered hate crimes.
According to the Hindu American Foundation, many believe the women were targeted because of not only stereotypes claiming Indians are rich but the fact that many Hindu women wear gold jewelry that has cultural or religious significance. Many wear expensive jewelry on a daily basis, including the mangalsutra, a necklace equivalent to that of a wedding ring in the Hindu tradition. The incidents resulted in many Bay Area Hindus having to make the difficult choice of whether or not to take off religious symbols for the sake of safety.
In a statement, the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office noted that about $35,000 worth of necklaces were stolen.
“I say to our South Asian community that anyone who targets and attacks you will be arrested and treated with the utmost severity under our law,” District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a statement, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. “Santa Clara County’s precious diversity is our strength, our superpower — not a criminal opportunity.”
People often forget that South Asians are part of the Asian American Pacific Islander community. The AAPI community as a whole has seen a drastic rise in hate crimes since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Data released by the FBI found that hate crimes targeting people of Asian descent in the U.S. rose by 70% in 2021 when compared to the number of such incidents in 2019. The report also found that more than 10,000 people reported hate crimes to law enforcement in 2021, the highest tally since 2008.
Aysha Qamar
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