"Are You Muslim?": Indian Worker Stabbed 15 Times in Utah Shopping Mall

An Indian national was brutally stabbed multiple times in a targeted hate crime at a shopping mall in Utah after confirming his religious identity.

According to reports published on Wednesday (July 15) by NDTV, the attack occurred on Monday at a retail kiosk inside the Valley Fair Mall in West Valley City, Utah. The suspect, identified as 48-year-old Peter Michael Larsen, was arrested on-site and later confessed to investigators that he intentionally targeted the victim, Sohail, solely because he is Muslim, expressing a violent bias against the community.

Witnesses and local community leaders, including the Imam of the Utah Islamic Center, stated that Larsen initially approached the counter under the guise of asking for a bottle of water. As Sohail turned around to retrieve it, the suspect drew a knife and stabbed him at least 15 times. Several quick-thinking bystanders and mall employees immediately intervened, physically restraining Larsen on the ground until local law enforcement arrived to take him into custody. Sohail, the sole breadwinner for his wife and two young children, remains in critical condition following multiple emergency surgeries. Human rights organizations have raised sharp alarms over the incident, noting a distressing rise in anti-immigrant rhetoric and hate-motivated violence across the country.