Hindu devotee spat on by Muslims near mosque for attending Narmada Parikrama

Case ID : 90a083c | Location : Dewas, Madhya Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Sun, 16 February, 2025

Case ID : 90a083c

Dewas, Madhya Pradesh, India

16 February, 2025

Hindu devotee spat on by Muslims near mosque for attending Narmada Parikrama

Attack not resulting in death

Attack against Hindu devotees

Attacked for crossing 'Muslim area'

Case Summary

On February 17, 2025, a Hindu couple, Prakash Yadav and his wife, were en route to the Narmada Parikrama on a bike when they were harassed in Madhya Pradesh’s Dewas district. A scuffle broke out between them and local Muslim men as they passed by Tamkhan mosque. The Muslims misbehaved with the couple and spat on Yadav’s wife. The incident triggered anger within the Hindu community, leading to a Bandh observed by Hindu organisations on February 19. Protesters later gathered near the Sri Ram temple, carrying saffron flags in a rally through the town’s main routes to the police station, where they submitted a memorandum to authorities, including the Collector and SP. The memorandum accused the Maulvi and Sadar of Tamkhan mosque of misbehaving with Hindu devotees and said that the mosque was built on encroached government land. It further stated that illegal and unconstitutional activities were taking place inside the mosque and that some anti-social elements in the area were involved in unlawful mining operations. A case was registered against three identified culprits — Mohsin, Akram, and Islam, one of whom is a minor. Police arrested two of the accused while one remains absconding.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

The incident has been added to the tracker under the prime category of- Attack not resulting in death. Under this, the first sub-category chosen is- Attack against Hindu devotees. Hindu devotees are a few of the easiest targets of religiously motivated hate crimes because during the festival/procession/puja etc, for non-Hindus it is easy to profile their victims on the basis of religion. Hindu devotees come under attack on several occasions by individual non-Hindus or mobs of non-Hindus owing to their animosity against Hinduism, its symbols and tradition/practices. There are several instances of Hindu devotees being attacked while they worship in temples or temporary religious structures, during religious processions, doing bhajan/kirtan/puja in their own homes, in the residential society etc. These attacks are perpetrated by non-Hindus primarily because of their animosity towards Hindus and their faith. In some cases, the trigger for the violence may be non-religious, however, there are two elements that make these hate crimes. First, the Hindus who come under attack are attacked violently while indulging in religious activity. Whether they are in a place of worship or not is immaterial to the crime. When individuals are attacked while indulging in religious practices, the attack in itself is a hindrance to their freedom to practice religion and therefore constitutes a hate crime. Secondly, religious supremacist doctrines and ideologies deem religious practices of Hindus to be offensive ab initio since they are considered “sinful” by these ideologies, worthy to be annihilated by force or coercion. Driven by these religious supremacist ideologies and doctrines, the attacks against Hindu devotees stem from intrinsic animosity towards Hinduism. In some cases, the trigger for the violence may be non-religious, however, it develops into a religiously motivated crime during the course of the violence. Since these attacks stem from animosity towards Hindus and Hinduism, they are considered religiously motivated hate crimes under this category. The second sub-category selected here is- Attacked for crossing 'Muslim area'. One of the reasons that Hindus get attacked unprovoked specifically by Islamists is for crossing ‘Muslim areas’. Essentially, Muslim mobs often attack Hindus crossing or present in certain areas which have a majority Muslim population. It has often been cited as one of the reasons to blame Hindus for attacks against themselves, signalling that Hindus displaying religious symbols, taking our religious processions or crossing any area which is dominated by Muslim residents is a provocation in and of itself. These areas are mostly ghettoized areas where mobs mobilize quickly to attack Hindus for a variety of reasons like playing music during a religious procession, crossing a mosque, wearing a tilak or any other religious symbol in a Muslim-dominated area, praying at a local temple in that area etc. There have been cases where the few local Hindus of that area have been attacked on their way to the Temple for prayers as well, simply because the area is considered a Muslim-dominated area. Several times, it is entirely possible that the immediate trigger for the violence against Hindus was non-religious in nature, however, the violence became religiously motivated in nature because the area was Muslim dominated and the residents on the whole harboured animosity towards Hindus, evidenced from the actions of the mob, the slogans, and the nature of the attack. Such crimes are motivated by the religious identity of the victims and are therefore classified as hate crimes under this category. This incident constitutes a religiously motivated hate crime as it demonstrates clear hostility towards Hindu devotees. The Hindu couple, Prakash Yadav and his wife, were en route to the Narmada Parikrama, a sacred pilgrimage when they were harassed near the Tamkhan mosque. Their religious identity was evidently a factor in the confrontation as they were subjected to misbehaviour. The fact that the altercation occurred specifically as they passed a mosque indicates that they were targeted for merely traversing a locality perceived to be controlled by another religious group. This aligns with the pattern of attacks wherein Hindus have faced hostility for crossing or entering Muslim-majority zones, reflecting an assertion of territorial dominance by radical elements. It is important to highlight that the attack on the Hindu devotees was entirely unprovoked, occurring merely because they passed by a mosque while en route to a religious pilgrimage. Spitting on the Hindu woman was not just an act of disrespect but a calculated attempt to humiliate and degrade her, reinforcing the perpetrators’ hostility towards Hindus. The attack also exemplifies a pattern where Hindus face aggression simply for crossing through Muslim-dominated areas, suggesting an exclusionary mindset that seeks to intimidate and control public spaces based on religious identity. This incident is a blatant example of religiously motivated hate, where Hindus were assaulted not for any provocation but solely due to their religious identity and the pilgrimage they were undertaking.