Hindu temple looted, idol of Goddess Durga vandalised in Amroha, Uttar Pradesh
Amroha, Uttar Pradesh, India 
4 October, 2026
Case Summary
In Ujhari, Amroha, Uttar Pradesh, a Hindu temple was targeted for theft, and the idol of Goddess Durga was vandalised by unidentified miscreants. According to media reports, the incident took place on the night of 5 October 2026 at the Chamunda Temple in Ujhari. The miscreants broke the lock of a room inside the temple and stole a ceiling fan and a bell. They also vandalised the idol of Goddess Durga installed inside the temple by breaking its right hand. On the morning of 6 October 2026, devotees arrived at the temple to offer prayers and discovered the theft and desecration. They found the room's lock broken and the items missing. They also noticed that the right hand of the idol of Goddess Durga had been broken. Following the incident, temple devotee Kripal Singh lodged a complaint against the unidentified miscreants at the Ujhari police outpost. Upon receiving information, police reached the spot and initiated an investigation. Ujhari police outpost in-charge Anil Tyagi stated that a case had been registered against the unidentified thieves and that the incident would be solved soon.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case is being added to the tracker under the primary category: Attack on Hindu religious representations. The subcategory selected is: Desecration of Hindu religious symbols. Icons and symbols or a religious representation of a spiritual ideal are widely revered in Hinduism. Iconography is of vital significance in the Hindu milieu. It helps connect people’s spiritual beliefs with the real world. Iconography within the Hindu faith takes several shapes and forms. Murtis are of most significance to Hindus, to which daily rituals, prayers and offerings are done. Besides the murtis, there are several other symbols which have deep significance in the Hindu faith – the Om and Swastika for example. Since these Hindu religious symbols hold paramount importance in Hinduism, any desecration of symbols, icons, murtis, religious representations and manifestations, is driven by animosity towards the faith itself which manifests itself through these murtis, icons and symbols. Therefore, any desecration of these Hindu religious symbols and representations is considered religiously motivated hate crimes under this category. The other subcategory selected is: Attack on Temples. In Hinduism, a temple is the abode of the Deity. The Deity in the Temple is consecrated, thereby, making it a real, breathing entity. Hindus believe that not just the Deity but the temple premises itself are sacred to Hindus since Hindus hold the faith that the entire Temple space is an amalgamation of the divine energy of the deity. Given the central significance of Temples in Hindu Dharma, any attack against a Hindu Temple or its peripheral premises is an attack on the faith itself and is born out of animosity towards the faith, of which, the Temple is a central tenet. Any manner of attack against a Temple and/or its premises would therefore be considered a religiously motivated hate crime. This case is a clear example of a hate crime as the perpetrators vandalised and desecrated the sacred idol of Goddess Durga and looted the temple premises. Hindu idols hold profound religious significance as sacred manifestations of deities and are central to Hindu worship and devotional practice. The idol of Goddess Durga is therefore not merely a physical object but a revered representation of the Goddess through which devotees express their faith and offer worship. Breaking the idol's right hand constitutes a deliberate violation of its sanctity and amounts to the desecration of a sacred Hindu religious symbol. By physically damaging an object held in religious reverence, the perpetrators demonstrated profound disrespect towards Hindu beliefs and practices, while the deliberate targeting of the deity's form reflected hostility towards Hinduism. Some may attempt to downplay the communal nature of the crime by treating it solely as an incident of theft. However, if the perpetrators were only motivated by looting, there was no apparent reason to deliberately vandalise the idol of Goddess Durga. The decision to damage the sacred idol went beyond the theft of temple property and demonstrated hostility towards a revered Hindu religious symbol. The incident therefore could not be viewed merely as a property offence, as the desecration established a distinct religious dimension to the targeting and demonstrated hostility towards Hinduism. The fact that the desecration occurred inside a Hindu temple further heightens the religious nature of the offence, as the deity and the temple form interconnected parts of a larger sacred ecosystem. Temples are sanctified spaces where devotees gather to worship, perform rituals and maintain a relationship with the deity, while also serving as important centres of Hindu religious and community life. Consequently, damaging the idol within the temple constituted an attack on both the sacred representation and the sanctity of the place in which it was worshipped. Such an attack undermines the sense of security associated with Hindu places of worship and creates fear among Hindu devotees that their sacred spaces and religious symbols are vulnerable to deliberate attacks, thereby reflecting hostility towards Hinduism. The looting of the temple premises further aggravated the offence. The perpetrators broke into a room within the temple and stole a ceiling fan and a bell, violating the security of a sacred place of worship in addition to desecrating its deity. The combination of theft and deliberate damage to the idol intensified the impact on the temple and its devotees, as the incident involved both an intrusion into a Hindu religious space and the violation of an object held sacred by the community. This compounded nature of the offence reinforced the religious dimension of the attack and heightened the sense of insecurity surrounding Hindu places of worship. This was not the first time a Hindu temple was targeted, and idols of Hindu deities were desecrated. The Hinduphobia Tracker documented nearly 1,362 cases of attacks on sacred Hindu religious representations, including idols, temples and pandals, between 1 January 2023 and 7 October 2026. Of these, 592 cases involved direct attacks on Hindu temples, while 795 involved direct attacks on sacred religious symbols. These figures demonstrated that the incident in Ujhari was not an isolated occurrence but formed part of a recurring pattern of attacks targeting Hindu places of worship and sacred representations. This broader pattern provided further context for understanding the religious dimension of the incident and its inclusion in the tracker. Although the identity of the perpetrators remained unidentified at the time of documentation, the nature of the acts they committed demonstrated clear religious hostility towards Hinduism and the Hindu community. Therefore, this case is being added to the hate crime database of the Hinduphobia Tracker.
Case Status
Complaint registered
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Unknown
Perpetrators Range
Unknown
Perpetrators Gender
unknown
Sources 
