Case Summary

On 22 September 2025, a woman named Saroj Sargam uploaded a video on YouTube in which she insulted Hindu Goddess Durga on the very first day of Navratri, using degrading language and labelling her a prostitute while hurling further obscene and filthy abuses. She further went on to call 'Mulnivasi' supporters to come to the front and support her in her alleged fight against 'Brahminism.' The video caused deep outrage among Hindus as it directly mocked one of the most sacred festivals and the revered Goddess of the faith. After the video surfaced, the demand to arrest the YouTuber increased. The Mirzapur took to X to inform that abusive singer Saroj Sargam had been arrested on Tuesday, 23rd September, for using offensive language against Hindu Gods and Goddesses. Her husband, Ram Milan Bind, and four other members of their Birha troupe were also taken into custody. Saroj faces eight separate cases registered in different districts of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Somen Barma said in a video byte that the YouTuber's husband, Ram Milan Bind, produced these abusive videos. On September 19th, she had uploaded the derogatory video on her YouTube channel. The SSP stated that Saroj Sargam had also illegally occupied 15 bighas of forest department land, which has been freed. During interrogation, Saroj revealed that she had been performing for the PDA (Backwards, Dalit, and Minority) community for the past two and a half years. Her husband confirmed that both of them jointly ran the Birha group, with Saroj previously known for singing traditional Birha songs. Saroj admitted to composing and uploading obscene songs about Goddess Durga on YouTube at the behest of Rajveer Singh Yadav, who paid her for the work. According to Saroj, Yadav assured her there was no risk involved since he had already secured favourable judgments from the High Court and Supreme Court in connection with his book Bahujan Nayak Mahishasur. The police also revealed that Saroj Sargam and her husband had converted to Christianity 10 months ago. Hinduphobia Tracker had earlier documented her anti-Hindu activities. Saroj Sargam runs a YouTube channel titled Saroj Sargam Mirzapur, where she routinely abuses Hindu gods and goddesses through vulgar, offensive, and derogatory content. Presenting her work as “surprising content,” her channel became notorious for spreading hate-filled songs, obscene speech, and targeted attacks against the Hindu faith and its symbols. Saroj Sargam, originally from Mirzapur but residing in Prayagraj, had built her online following by publishing videos laced with contempt for Hinduism. In one widely circulated video, she referred to Maa Durga as both a prostitute and a murderer, words that shocked devotees across the country. Her systematic campaign of denigration went beyond one instance: she repeatedly released inflammatory material aimed at ridiculing Hindu deities and the Brahmin community. By September 2025, six FIRs had already been registered against her for spreading communal hatred, yet action from authorities remained slow. Rather than offering an apology, she escalated her defiance by publishing a letter on her channel in which she appealed to missionaries and their organisations for financial and resource support in fighting these FIRs. In that letter, she openly admitted that she sings what she terms “missionary historical songs,” claiming it was an effort to awaken society. In practice, these were abusive compositions targeted at Hindu beliefs. Her content carried deeply provocative titles. One video declared that “Brahmins cut Shiva’s penis”, filled with crude slurs against Lord Shiva, the Brahmin community, and even the sacred month of Sawan. That single upload gained over 190,000 views within a month. Another, titled Come to the movement, drive away the Brahmins, urged viewers to unite against Brahmins and presented them as oppressors. Posted five months earlier, it had amassed more than 610,000 views, highlighting how she expanded her subscriber base by targeting Hindus and their traditions. Beyond this, Saroj Sargam uploaded several videos calling for “getting rid of Hinduism,” labelling gods as thieves and robbers, and urging people to throw their images into the Ganga. Over the past three years, her channel has released at least 40 videos, with the majority of them specifically directed against Hinduism. While her early posts drew little attention, her viewership and notoriety rose significantly once she focused on mocking Hindu deities and denigrating the Brahmin community.

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Why it is Hate Crime ?

The primary category in this case is: Hate speech against Hindus. The subcategory under this is: Anti-Hindu slurs, mocking faith. Anti-Hindu slurs and the deliberate mocking of the Hindu faith owing to religious animosity involve the usage of derogatory terms, stereotypes, or offensive references to religious practices, symbols, or figures. One of the common anti-Hindu slurs used against Hindus is “cow-worshipper” and “cow piss drinker”. The intention of using this term is to demean and mock Hindus as a group and their religious beliefs since Hindus consider the cow holy. Additionally, some symbols and the slurs attached to them have a historical context that exacerbates the insult, hate, stereotyping, dehumanisation and oppression against Hindus. Cow worship has been used for centuries to denigrate Hindus, insult their faith and oppress Hindus specifically as a religious group. There has been overwhelming documentation about how cow slaughter has been used to persecute Hindus with cow meat being thrown in temples and places of worship. There has also been overwhelming documentation where cow meat (beef) has been force-fed to Hindus to either forcefully convert them to Islam or denigrate their faith. Apart from cow worship, the Swastika – which holds deep religious significance for the Hindus – has also been misinterpreted and distorted to use as a slur against Hindus. Similarly, the worship of the Shivling has been used by supremacist ideologies and religions to denigrate Hindus owing to religious animosity. Such slurs and denigration stem out of inherent animosity and hate towards Hindus and their faith; therefore, it is categorised as hate speech targeted at Hindus specifically owing to their religious identity. Another subcategory under this is: Anti Hindu subversion and prejudice Hate speech is defined as any speech, gesture, conduct, writing, or display that is prejudicial against a specific individual and/or group of people, which is leading to or may lead to violence, prejudicial action or hate against that individual and/or group. Media plays a specific and overarching reach in perpetuating prejudicial attitudes towards a community owing to unfair, untrue coverage and/or misrepresentation/misinterpretation, selective coverage and/or omission of facts of/pertaining to issues affecting a specific religious group. This type of bias can dehumanise the victim group, making it easier for others to justify harmful actions against them, which aligns with the objectives of hate speech laws aimed at preventing such harm. It is often observed that the media takes a prejudicial stand against the Hindu community driven by their need to shield the aggressor community which happens to be a numeric minority, however, is the one perpetrating violence against Hindus. For example, the media is often quick to contextualise religiously motivated crimes against Hindus, omit or misrepresent facts that point towards religiously motivated hate crimes, justify and/or downplay religiously motivated hate crimes or simply present fake news to stereotype Hindus. Such media bias leads to the denial of persecution and is often used to dehumanise Hindus, leading to justification for violence against them. For example, the media covered several fake allegations of Hindus targeting Muslims and forcing them to chant Jai Shree Ram. Most of these cases were proved false and fabricated after police investigation. These fake news reports were subsequently never retracted or clarified. Such fake news led to the justification of violence and dehumanisation of Hindus based on the argument that since Hindus targeted Muslims and forced them to chant Jai Shree Ram, the dehumanisation of Hindus and violence against them was par for the course and merely a retaliation. Such media bias leads to prejudicial portrayal of Hindus and offers a justification for violence against them and therefore, is considered hate speech under this category. This case has been included in the Hinduphobia Tracker because it constitutes a systematic and deliberate instance of hate speech and anti-Hindu subversion, aimed at both the Hindu religious identity and its symbolic representatives. Saroj Sargam’s actions demonstrate a persistent pattern of targeting Hinduism, deities, and religious symbols, which clearly falls within the definition of hate crimes against Hindus. On 22 September 2025, coinciding with the first day of Navratri, she uploaded a video in which she openly insulted Maa Durga, labelling her a prostitute and hurling a range of obscene and filthy abuses. By attacking one of the most sacred festivals and revered deities of Hinduism, she directly provoked and denigrated Hindu religious sentiments. Her repeated conduct, including prior videos where she demeaned deities like Lord Shiva and portrayed Brahmins as immoral, reflects an organised campaign of religious vilification rather than isolated or accidental remarks, marking her as a repeat offender. Additionally, Saroj Sargam’s explicit targeting of the Brahmin community falls under anti-Hindu subversion and prejudice. While caste-specific targeting might appear narrow, in the context of anti-Hindu animosity, it functions as a proxy for attacking Hindu identity collectively. Brahmins, often positioned as symbolic representatives of Hindu religiosity and ritual practice, were portrayed as tyrannical, immoral, and deserving of expulsion. Calls to “come to the movement, drive away the Brahmins” are not merely caste-directed; they are part of a broader campaign to delegitimize Hindu religious and social identity. Attacks on Brahmins in this manner are aligned with a recurring pattern among anti-Hindu actors, particularly those influenced by Islamist or leftist ideological frameworks, where religious identity is the primary target, and caste, region, or linguistic markers are secondary. The hostility toward Brahmins in Saroj’s videos therefore reflects a wider effort to undermine and marginalise Hindu faith itself. Her repeated use of slurs, derogatory references to sacred symbols such as the Shivling, and claims that Hindu deities are thieves or morally corrupt, further solidifies the categorization of her actions as hate speech against Hindus. The content is designed to offend, provoke, and delegitimise Hindu beliefs, creating an environment in which prejudice, antagonism, and potential violence against Hindus can be normalised. Moreover, her videos fit within a broader pattern of anti-Hindu subversion documented across media and social spaces. By linking Brahmins to oppression and encouraging their removal, she weaponises identity politics in a manner consistent with other anti-Hindu propaganda platforms, where micro identities like caste or region are secondary and the central criterion of hostility is religious affiliation. In conclusion, Saroj Sargam’s activities represent a multi-dimensional hate crime against Hindus. She has repeatedly insulted deities, misrepresented scriptures, targeted the Brahmin community, and cultivated a monetised platform for spreading anti-Hindu sentiment. Her repeated offenses, deliberate subversion of religious texts, and public calls for support in continuing these attacks justify her inclusion in the Hinduphobia Tracker. This case underscores the broader reality that anti-Hindu hate speech often intersects with both digital media amplification and ideological alignment with platforms that exploit identity politics, making Hindu religious identity, regardless of caste or region, a consistent and deliberate target of animosity.