India, Dec. 29 -- A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking judicial intervention to recognise the use of "racial slurs" as a distinct category of hate crime.

The petition was filed by lawyer Anoop Prakash Awasthi on Sunday against the backdrop of the death of a 24-year-old student from Tripura in Uttarakhand's Dehradun.

Angel Chakma from Nandannagar in West Tripura was attacked by a group of six people when he allegedly objected to an alleged racial slur on December 9 in Dehradun. He succumbed to his injuries while undergoing treatment on December 26. The state police have, however, claimed that the attack on Angel Chakma was not racially motivated.

Awasthi's petition also sought directions to states to set up state-level...