Hindus attacked by Muslim mob for singing bhajans in a Muslim-dominated area
Budaun, Uttar Pradesh, India 
28 April, 2025
Case Summary
In the Budaun district of Uttar Pradesh, a targeted communal assault took place in the Alaapur police station area, where a Hindu family returning from their child’s tonsure (mundan) ceremony was attacked by a Muslim mob. The incident occurred near Kutarai village, a Muslim dominated area, as the Hindu family travelled home in a tractor-trolley while singing religious and devotional songs, including Mangalgeet. According to the FIR filed by Ankit Singh, he was returning with his family after his son Sudhanshu’s tonsure ceremony in Sainjani village when the mob stopped their vehicle. As they approached Kutarai, Muslim men led by Hilal (the village pradhan’s son), along with Yasin, Bilal, Bablu, Istakr, Shanu, Akhtar, and four others, confronted the group and blocked the road. What started as a minor argument over a parked scooter suddenly escalated into a violent and targeted assault. The Muslim mob began abusing and threatening the family, making obscene gestures, and physically attacked the group. Hindu women were specifically targeted and were beaten with sticks, and their jewellery looted. Five to six women were injured in the assault, with at least two requiring hospitalisation. In total, around 30 individuals were injured in the attack. As of the date of this report, police have registered an FIR against eleven persons, five of whom have been arrested.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category of : - Attack not resulting in death. With it 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 relevant 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 case has been added because it constitutes a clear instance of a religiously motivated hate crime. The Hindu families were peacefully returning home after a child’s tonsure ceremony, singing bhajans and devotional songs, a common and innocuous expression of their faith. The attack took place in Kutarai village, a Muslim-majority area, where the mere act of singing Hindu devotional songs in public triggered hostility from local Muslim youths. The targeting was not random; it was directed specifically at Hindus engaged in a religious practice, suggesting that the violence was rooted in religious intolerance. This pattern mirrors a disturbing and recurrent trend in which Islamist mobs react violently to the visible practice of Hindu religious traditions within Muslim-dominated areas. In such areas, even the peaceful singing of bhajans is perceived as provocation. These acts of aggression are not isolated but reflect a deeper intolerance rooted in religious supremacist attitudes, where Hindus are targeted simply for asserting or expressing their religious identity. In this case, the perpetrators viewed the predominantly Muslim-occupied region as an exclusive zone where non-Muslims, particularly Hindus, were unwelcome. This sense of entitlement and superiority not only reflects deep-seated prejudice but also highlights an attempt to assert religious dominance over public spaces. The assault on the Hindus returning from a religious event was motivated by this supremacist ideology, where Islamists in the area looked down upon Hindus, believing that they had the right to dictate who could move freely through their community. The disproportionate nature of the violence, particularly when directed at vulnerable individuals such as women, highlights the hateful mindset rooted in exclusion, intolerance and religious animosity and makes it a textbook case of a religiously motivated hate crime driven by deep-seated animosity.
Case Status
Arrested
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 10 to 100
Perpetrators Gender
male
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