Hindu youth assaulted by three Muslim men for being seen in company of Muslim woman

Case ID : 30a97e3 | Location : Bengaluru, Karnataka, India | Date of Incident : Sat, 18 July, 2026

Case ID : 30a97e3

Bengaluru, Karnataka, India

18 July, 2026

Hindu youth assaulted by three Muslim men for being seen in company of Muslim woman

Men attacked for being associated with non-Hindu women

Attacked/killed for being associated or suspicion of being associated with Muslim woman

Case Summary

In the Nelamangala taluk in Karnataka's Bengaluru Rural district, a Hindu youth was assaulted by three Muslim men after seeing him walking with a Muslim woman. The incident occurred within the jurisdiction of the Dobbaspet Police Station. The accused were identified as Tahreek Pasha, Sohel Pasha, and Syed Kareem. According to the police complaint, the Muslim girl, Kausar, was walking with her Hindu friend, Yashwanth, when the three Muslim accused intercepted them, verbally abused them, and physically assaulted Yashwanth. During the assault, the accused recorded a video of the attack and circulated it on WhatsApp. The footage subsequently spread across other social media platforms. The incident left Kausar severely distressed, following which she attempted suicide. She survived the attempt. After the video went viral on social media on 19 July 2026, the police initially registered a suo motu case. Subsequently, based on Kausar's complaint, the Dobbaspet Police registered a First Information Report under the relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and launched a manhunt to trace and arrest the accused. At the time of reporting, the accused were absconding, and the investigation was ongoing.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category of - Men attacked for being associated with non-Hindu women. Within this, the subcategory selected is - Attacked/killed for being associated or suspicion of being associated with Muslim woman. There have been several cases documented of Hindu men/boys being attacked specifically by Muslim groups/mobs for merely being associated or suspicion of being associated or being seen with a Muslim woman in public. In most of such cases, the Hindu man is not in a relationship with the Muslim woman, however, the mob proceeds to threaten and/or assault the Hindu man for merely being associated with the Muslim woman in any capacity. The rise of such crimes stems from a particularly sinister campaign run by several Muslim ideologues and activists. The campaign claims that Hindu men are attempting to ‘lure’ Muslim women into relationships to ensure that Muslim women leave their faith and follow Hinduism. The propaganda has been spearheaded with the help of WhatsApp groups and the extensive use of social media, sans evidence of the same. In many cases, pamphlets were fabricated to lend credence to this campaign. The root of this campaign lies in the fact that several cases of sectarian crimes against Hindu women in relationships with Muslim men have been documented. In such cases, Hindu women have often been forced/pressured to convert to Islam, assaulted, threatened and even murdered owing specifically to their religious identity and their refusal to give up that religious identity to adopt Islam. To delegitimize the suffering of Hindu women when such sectarian crimes are committed against them, the theory of ‘Bhagwa Love Trap’ was floated by sections of the Muslim community. As this theory gained traction, Muslim mobs started targeting Hindu men who were seen with Muslim women. In several such cases, the Hindu man was assaulted merely for offering to drop a Muslim woman in his vehicle or being friends. The differentiating factor between such cases and legitimate cases of Hindu women being targeted while in a relationship with Muslim men is that there is no sectarian violence, and force/pressure to convert. The nature of sectarian violence against Hindu women is not about two adults in a consensual relationship, working together, studying together, or even marrying each other where religious considerations are declared. In this category of crimes, it is pertinent to remember that in none of the cases, there is an element of the Hindu man masking his identity or forced religious conversion. Such cases are driven by specific religious motivations and against the religious identity of the victim and are therefore qualified as hate crimes. This case has been added to the Hinduphobia Tracker because the assault on the Hindu victim, Yashwanth, was directly connected to his religious identity and his association with a Muslim woman, Kausar. The incident was not a random act of violence or an ordinary personal dispute. Three Muslim men, Tahreek Pasha, Sohel Pasha and Syed Kareem, intercepted Yashwanth and Kausar while they were walking together, verbally abused them, and physically assaulted Yashwanth. According to Kausar's complaint, the confrontation arose specifically from their being together, making the religious identities of the two individuals central to the incident. It is important to note that Yashwanth and Kausar were both adults and were free to associate with one another. There was no reported misconduct by Yashwanth that warranted the intervention or violence inflicted upon him. The accused nevertheless took it upon themselves to police the interaction between a Hindu man and a Muslim woman and used physical violence against Yashwanth. Their conduct therefore went beyond expressing disapproval and involved the use of force to intimidate and punish a Hindu man for associating with a Muslim woman. The nature of the confrontation further demonstrated that Yashwanth was being targeted specifically because of the religious identities involved. The accused did not merely object to his presence or engage in an unrelated personal dispute with him. They confronted him after seeing him with Kausar, verbally abused the pair, and then singled out Yashwanth for physical assault. This made the religious identity of the Hindu man and his association with the Muslim woman the basis of the confrontation. By physically assaulting Yashwanth after confronting him over this association, the perpetrators sought to intimidate and punish him for associating with a Muslim woman despite being Hindu. The fact that the perpetrators recorded the assault and circulated the video on WhatsApp further demonstrates the humiliating and intimidating nature of the attack. The violence was not confined to the physical assault itself; the recording was subsequently circulated and spread across social media platforms, exposing the victim to wider public humiliation. Such conduct served to intimidate other Hindu men by demonstrating the consequences that may follow when they associate with Muslim women. The attack therefore had a broader coercive dimension beyond the immediate physical violence inflicted upon Yashwanth. The incident also reflected a broader pattern in which Hindu men in relationships with Muslim women are treated as religious transgressors and subjected to intimidation or violence. Such hostility is often reinforced by the so-called ‘Bhagwa Love Trap’ conspiracy theory, which falsely portrays Hindu men who enter relationships with Muslim women as part of a supposed organised effort to target Muslim women. This narrative vilifies Hindu men and is routinely used to justify policing consensual interfaith relationships and attacking Hindu men involved in them. In this case, the perpetrators' conduct reflected precisely this form of hostility: rather than respecting his personal choice, they confronted and assaulted him because he, as a Hindu man, was in a relationship with a Muslim woman. Such incidents often happen because some individuals or groups believe that Muslim women should not interact or associate with Hindu men. They see such interactions as unacceptable and use threats or violence to stop them. Their actions are intended to discourage similar interactions in the future and to enforce their own social and religious boundaries. Considering the targeted nature of the confrontation, the fact that Yashwanth was assaulted after being seen with a Muslim woman, the religious identities of those involved, and the use of violence and public dissemination of the assault video to intimidate and humiliate the victim, this case reflects a pattern of targeted hostility towards Hindus in interfaith associations. The perpetrators' actions sought to punish a Hindu man for crossing a perceived religious boundary and to deter similar associations in the future. Considering these factors, the case has been categorised as a religiously motivated hate crime and has been added to the Hinduphobia Tracker's hate crime database. Disclaimer: The Hinduphobia Tracker accounts for crimes committed against Hindus by perpetrators, and for this reason, the victim count is recorded based on the victimisation relevant to the Tracker. Although Kausar was also subjected to abuse and intimidation during the incident, the victim count in this case is recorded as 1, referring to Yashwanth, the Hindu man who was physically assaulted.