Hindu family attacked and driven out of their home by Muslim mob for refusing to sell property to local Muslims
Uttar Dinajpur district, West Bengal, India 
20 April, 2025
Case Summary
A Hindu family in Basudebpur village, located in Uttar Dinajpur district of West Bengal, was attacked by a group of Muslims for refusing to sell their home. The area falls under the jurisdiction of the Raiganj Police Station and is known to be Muslim-dominated. For several months, Bidhan Majumder and his family had been facing pressure from local Muslims to sell their property. Despite repeated demands, Bidhan refused to comply, which led to growing hostility against his family. The situation escalated when a group of Muslims launched a violent attack on their home. The assailants physically assaulted the family members and vandalised their property, reducing their home to ruins. Fearing for their lives, the Majumder family fled the scene and took shelter in a nearby cornfield. From there, Bidhan and his wife recorded a video detailing the attack, naming the individuals responsible, and uploaded it on Facebook. The video quickly spread across various social media platforms, drawing public attention and political reactions. Leaders from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) criticised the ruling TMC-led West Bengal government for its alleged appeasement politics and reported that Hindus were increasingly unsafe in the state.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the prime category- Attack not resulting in death. The sub-category selected is- Attacked for Hindu identity. In several cases, Hindus are attacked merely for their Hindu identity without any perceived provocation. A classic example of this category of religiously motivated hate crime is a murder in 2016. 7 ISIS terrorists were convicted for shooting a school principal in Kanpur because they got ‘triggered’ seeing the Kalava on his wrist and tilak that he had put. In this, the Hindu victim had offered no provocation except for his Hindu religious identity. The motivation for the murder was purely religious, driven by religious supremacy. Such cases where Hindus are targeted merely for their religious identity would be documented as a hate crime under this category. The other sub-category selected is- Attacked to induce migration from non-Hindu dominated area. There have been cases where the Hindus living in an area, often with a majority dwelling belonging to non-Hindus or those harbouring animosity towards the Hindu faith, the Hindu residents experience threats and violence. The violence is employed with the aim of making the Hindus leave the area and relocate, so the area could be turned into an exclusive ghetto for adherents of the non-Hindu faith or those who harbor animosity towards the Hindu faith. In several cases, the aim of exodus is explicit. However, in several cases, the demand for exodus of Hindu residents is not explicit, however, violence by non-Hindu residents leaves the Hindu residents no option but to leave the area, thereby, turning the area into an exclusive ghetto of non-Hindu residents. In such cases, there are instances violence against the Hindu residents explicitly. For example, in the Hauz Qazi case of 2019, the Muslim residents claimed that mob violence against the Hindu residents had been triggered by a parking dispute. However, the violence did turn religious with a temple being desecrated and was directed specifically against the Hindu residents. The Hindu residents of the area were clear that the violence was religiously motivated and one of the motives was to affect an exodus of the Hindu residents. In such cases, even though the perpetrators have not explicitly expressed the aim of affecting exodus, the given circumstances and violence and precedent point to the intention of exodus and therefore would be categorized under this sub-category. Such crimes are religiously motivated and therefore are hate crimes. The third sub-category selected is- Attacked for opposing radicals or trying to save victim. In several cases, Hindus are attacked for opposing religiously motivated crimes being committed against a fellow Hindu or simply for voicing an opinion opposing radical elements, who either have in the past or continue to persecute Hindus. In such cases, the initial attack against the victim, against which the Hindu was trying to defend the victim, would also need to be classified as a religiously motivated hate crime. Since the initial crime itself was religiously motivated and the subsequent crime of attempting to save the victim or speaking against the radical elements ends up inviting a violent attack, it would also be classified as a religiously motivated hate crime under this category. The fourth sub-category relevant here is- Communal clash/attack. Communal clash is a form of collective violence that involves clashes between groups belonging to different religious identities. For a communal clash between Hindus and non-Hindus to qualify as a religiously motivated hate crime, the trigger of the violence itself would have to be anti-Hindu in essence. For example, if there is a Hindu religious procession that comes under attack from a non-Hindu mob and after the initial attack, Hindus retaliate in self-defence, leading to a communal clash between the two religious communities. While at a later stage, both communities are involved in the clash/violence, the initial trigger of the violence was by the non-Hindu mob against the Hindus and therefore, it could safely be termed as an anti-Hindu violence. Further, the trigger would also have to be religiously motivated. In the cited example, the attack by the non-Hindu mob was against religious processions and therefore, can be concluded to be religiously motivated. In some cases, the trigger may be non-religious, however, it develops into religious violence against Hindus at a later stage. In such cases too, the foundational animosity towards Hindus becomes the motivating factor of the crime and therefore, it would be classified as a religiously motivated hate crime against Hindus under this category. The brutal attack on the Hindu Majumder family in Basudebpur village, Uttar Dinajpur, is a glaring example of a targeted act of religious hatred. For months, the family was subjected to relentless pressure by members of the local Muslim community to vacate their home, a clear attempt to drive Hindus out of a Muslim-dominated area. Their refusal to sell their property in the face of coercion led to escalating hostility, culminating in a violent mob attack on their residence. The family was physically assaulted, their property vandalised, and their home reduced to rubble—acts clearly intended to instil fear and force them to flee. The attackers’ goal was not merely to intimidate but to erase the Hindu presence from the locality. The family’s attempt to resist this pressure and maintain their rightful place in the village was met with brutal retaliation, showing how Hindus are often punished simply for standing their ground. This targeted violence, based on religious identity, was not a random incident but a calculated assault aimed at demographic control through fear and displacement. The communal nature of the attack and the victimisation of the family solely due to their Hindu faith and their refusal to submit to radical elements, make this a stark case of Hinduphobia, warranting inclusion in the tracker.
Victim Details
Total Victim
2
Deceased
0
Gender
- Male 1
- Female 1
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 0
Caste
- SC/ST 0
- OBC 0
- General 2
- Unknown 0
Age Group
- Minor 0
- Adult 2
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 0
Case Status
Unknown
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
Unknown
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
