Hindu boy harassed, threatened and manhandled by two Muslim youth, for being seen in a company of Muslim woman

Case ID : 9957d5d | Location : Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Wed, 2 July, 2025

Case ID : 9957d5d

Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India

2 July, 2025

Hindu boy harassed, threatened and manhandled by two Muslim youth, for being seen in a 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 Dubagga area of Lucknow, a Hindu youth was harassed and manhandled by two Muslim youths for travelling with a Muslim girl on a bike. According to the reports, the Hindu boy was riding the bike with a saffron flag attached to it, and the Muslim girl sitting behind him was wearing a burqa. Upon seeing them together, the two Muslim men named Hayat and Ejaz from Qazi chased the duo on IIM Road, intercepted them, and began to misbehave with them. They manhandled the Hindu boy, harassed him and threatened him for being with a Muslim woman. Furthermore, they forcibly attempted to remove the burqa of the Muslim girl and engaged in indecent behaviour. The situation escalated to the point where the Hindu boy, frightened by the aggression, made the girl sit in an auto-rickshaw and sent her away to ensure her safety. He, too, left the scene soon after. No formal complaint was filed by either party. However, a video of the incident was widely circulated on social media. Based on the footage, the police identified the two accused and arrested them under charges related to disturbing public peace. As of the date of writing this report, both the accused were sent to jail.

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 it, the sub-category 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 is a clear instance of a religiously motivated hate crime against Hindus, where the victim, a Hindu youth, was harassed, threatened and manhandled for being in the company of a Muslim woman. The incident was not triggered by any inappropriate behaviour or public misconduct but solely by the religious identities of the individuals involved. It must be noted here that both the individuals present in this case are adults who are free to make their own decisions. Thus, the Muslim woman was with the Hindu man out of her own free will. The Muslim aggressors took issue with the fact that a Muslim girl, visibly wearing a burqa, was in the company of a Hindu boy. This reaction was not motivated by concern for the girl’s safety or consent, but rather by an ingrained religious bias and a desire to enforce sectarian boundaries through intimidation. The physical act of trying to remove the burqa of the girl, or threatening the boy, was aimed at shaming the individuals involved and sending a broader message of religious control within public spaces. This was not an isolated outburst, but a targeted act driven by a deeply ingrained hostility toward the Hindu identity of the boy. The actions were deliberate, unprovoked, and carried out with the intent to publicly enforce a discriminatory belief system that denies Hindu men the right to freely associate with Muslim women. The justification for such actions stems from the conspiracy theory of ‘Bhagwa Love Trap’, which is explicitly rooted in anti-Hindu sentiment. This false narrative vilifies Hindu men by portraying them as predators targeting Muslim women, despite no basis in reality. It is weaponised to legitimise violence against Hindus, as seen in this case, where a group of Muslim men took it upon themselves to stop them in the middle of the road and threaten and assault them for simply being friends. This act underscores a discriminatory mindset that seeks to target individuals based solely on their religious affiliation, irrespective of the situation. Such incidents highlight the systematic and deliberate nature of religious intolerance, deeply rooted in hatred for Hindus and their faith. Considering these factors, the case has been categorised as a religiously motivated hate crime, driven by the perpetrators' hostility toward the Hindu community and its beliefs.