Hindu man publicly humiliated and physically assaulted by Muslims over interfaith relationship with Muslim woman

Case ID : 9958803 | Location : Ramanagara, Karnataka, India | Date of Incident : Sat, 20 September, 2025

Case ID : 9958803

Ramanagara, Karnataka, India

20 September, 2025

Hindu man publicly humiliated and physically assaulted by Muslims over interfaith relationship with 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 Kanakapura, Karnataka, a Hindu man named Mahesh and a Muslim woman, who were in a relationship and living together, were publicly humiliated and assaulted by a group of Muslim youths. According to reports, Mahesh, a resident of Indiranagar, had lost his wife and was living with a Muslim woman named Asin Taj, who was estranged from her husband. However, this enraged the Muslim youths, who were unable to tolerate their relationship. When the couple was riding a bike near Tamasandra, the Muslim youths, along with members of Asin Taj’s family, intercepted them and physically assaulted them. They forcibly took the couple to Indiranagar, where the couple was brutally attacked in public and had their heads shaved off, in order to humiliate them. The police registered a case and arrested the Muslim youths, identified as Sheikh Kabir (24), Syed Nawaz (38), Nawaz Khan (20), Suhail Sharif (28) from Khalak Nagar, and Shamim (40) from Nawajibore. The police stated that the accused had incited hatred between the two religious communities and took precautions to prevent further incidents. A police force was also deployed in the area as a precautionary measure.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category- Men attacked for being associated with non-Hindu women. Within this, 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, where a Hindu man was publicly humiliated and physically assaulted for being in a relationship with a Muslim woman. The attack was not provoked by any misconduct or inappropriate behaviour on the part of the victims, but was driven solely by the religious identities of the individuals involved. Both Mahesh and Asin Taj are adults who were free to make their own decisions, and the Muslim woman was living with the Hindu man of her own free will. The perpetrators targeted the couple because of their interfaith relationship, specifically due to the Hindu man's religious identity. The attack was deliberate, unprovoked, and intended to publicly enforce a discriminatory belief system that denies Hindu men the right to freely associate with Muslim women. It sought to send a broader message that Hindu men would face violence and public humiliation if seen in the company of Muslim women, regardless of the context. The justification for such actions stems from the conspiracy theory of the ‘Bhagwa Love Trap’, which is widely regarded as anti-Hindu. This false narrative portrays Hindu men as predators targeting Muslim women for their religious identity, despite having no basis in reality. It is weaponised to legitimise violence against Hindus, as seen in this case, where a group of Muslim youths took it upon themselves to attack the interfaith couple. This act underscores a discriminatory mindset that targets individuals solely based on their religious affiliation, irrespective of circumstances. Such incidents highlight the systematic and deliberate nature of religious intolerance, deeply rooted in hostility toward 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 members’ right to freely associate with people of other faiths. Disclaimer: The Hinduphobia Tracker records incidents based on when the victim’s ordeal began or when the event occurred. However, in this case, the report does not provide specific details regarding when the interfaith couple was attacked. Therefore, for documentation purposes, the date of the incident has been recorded as the date it was reported in the media - September 21, 2025. The Hinduphobia Tracker is accounting for incidents against Hindus by non-Hindu perpetrators, and for this reason, we are just keeping the victim count as 1, referring to the Hindu man alone.