Hindu man threatened and assaulted by his Muslim colleague for wearing a tilak at workplace

Case ID : 30a8344 | Location : Nagda, Madhya Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Mon, 26 January, 2026

Case ID : 30a8344

Nagda, Madhya Pradesh, India

26 January, 2026

Hindu man threatened and assaulted by his Muslim colleague for wearing a tilak at workplace

Attack not resulting in death

Attacked for Hindu identity

Case Summary

In Nagda, Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, a Hindu man named Hritik alias Golu Rathore was threatened and assaulted for wearing a tilak by his Muslim colleague Mubarak Lala. The incident came to light on the evening of 27 April 2026. Hritik, a resident of Dayanand Colony, worked as a mechanic at the Maruti Suzuki showroom on Ujjain-Jawahar State Highway 17 in Nagda. Hritik said he arrived at work every day with a tilak on his forehead. His co-worker, Mubarak Lala, a resident of Khachrod, had been objecting to this for some time. According to the victim, Mubarak had been harassing him for the past three months (January 2026) when he came to the showroom wearing a tilak. He would beat him with a belt and even threaten to kill him. On 27 April 2026, when Hritik arrived at the showroom wearing a tilak, the accused again interrupted him, abused him, and threatened him. Hritik then informed Hindu organisations about the incident. Upon receiving the information, activists from the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal arrived at the showroom, raising slogans and protesting. Upon receiving information about the disturbance, Mandi police arrived at the scene and brought the situation under control. Following this, on 28 April 2026, based on Hritik's statement, the police registered a case against the accused Mubarak Lala under sections 299, 296(A) and 351(3) of the Indian Penal Code and started an investigation.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category- Attack not resulting in death. The subcategory selected is- Attacked for Hindu identity. In several cases, Hindus are attacked merely for their Hindu identity without any perceived provocation. A classic example of this category of religiously motivated hate crime is a murder in 2016. 7 ISIS terrorists were convicted for shooting a school principal in Kanpur because they got ‘triggered’ seeing the Kalava on his wrist and tilak that he had put. In this, the Hindu victim had offered no provocation except for his Hindu religious identity. The motivation for the murder was purely religious, driven by religious supremacy. Such cases where Hindus are targeted merely for their religious identity would be documented as a hate crime under this category. This case stands as a stark example of a religiously motivated hate crime, where a Hindu man faced threats and brutal assault at his workplace simply because his Muslim colleague objected to him wearing a tilak, a sacred Hindu religious symbol. This makes it a clear example of a religiously motivated crime, rooted in hostility towards the victim's open expression of his Hindu faith and identity through wearing religious symbols. The tilak holds profound significance in Hinduism as a visible mark of devotion, applied on the forehead to honour the divine third eye of Lord Shiva, symbolising wisdom, protection, and spiritual awakening. Hindus wear the tilak every day as a routine expression of their faith. Similarly, the Hindu victim in this case wore his tilak to his workplace as a habitual way of publicly affirming his Hindu faith without any concealment. The fact that the Muslim perpetrator attacked and threatened him merely for wearing a tilak showcases his deep-seated intolerance towards the victim's public expression of Hindu faith as well as his Hindu identity as a whole. This makes it a clear case of an anti-Hindu hate crime. When a Hindu victim endures prolonged assault, threats, and harassment just for wearing symbols of his religious faith and identity, it reveals the depth of hostility from the Muslim perpetrator, where even public expressions of Hindu faith symbols prove unbearable, marking it unequivocally as hatred rooted in anti-Hindu animosity. The fact that the accused harassed the victim for almost three months underscores a prolonged ordeal where the Hindu victim suffered constant attacks, targeting, and threats solely for wearing his sacred Hindu symbol of tilak. Such relentless harassment by a colleague at the workplace imposes immense psychological pressure on the Hindu victim, making him feel ashamed of his Hindu faith and identity and convincing him that he is being singled out purely for this practice. This constant harassment demonstrates that the Muslim perpetrator sought to suppress his public expression of Hindu faith. It reveals open hostility and the depths of religious intolerance, where even minor expressions of faith identity trigger harassment, assault, and threats in this manner. Such actions impose restrictions on Hindu faith expression and showcase the depth of religious intolerance and hostility the perpetrator harboured towards Hinduism and the Hindu community, making it a clear case of a religiously motivated hate crime. In a workplace environment, it becomes extremely difficult for a victim to speak out, out of fear of further harassment, damage to his career, or a bad remark that could affect his livelihood. The fact that the perpetrator targeted him in such a setting shows that he deliberately exploited this environment to silence the victim over his faith identity and prevent any retaliation. This highlights the predatory and malicious nature of the perpetrator. Given that this case meets the parameters of a hate crime, it is being added to the hate crime database of the Hinduphobia Tracker. Disclaimer: The Hinduphobia Tracker records incident dates based on when the victim's ordeal begins, rather than when it is reported by the media. In this case, media reports have not stated an exact date when the victim's ordeal began; they only state that this incident came to light on 27 April 2026 and that the victim was being harassed for three months. Based on this information, 27 January 2026 is being selected as the indicative incident date. This is recorded for documentation purposes only.