Minor Hindu students assaulted for wearing Kalawa by school's two Christian employees
Munger, Bihar, India 
12 May, 2025
Case Summary
In Bihar's Munger district, minor Hindu students were beaten for wearing Kalawa (a sacred red thread tied on the wrist). The perpetrators were two Christian employees working in the school who punished the students for wearing the thread. The incident took place at the Plus Two Town Higher Secondary School located near Bhagat Singh Chowk. The Physical Training (PT) teacher and the librarian assaulted more than three dozen Hindu students for coming to school with Kalawa tied on their wrists. Since the school was closed on Wednesday, the parents approached the principal to raise the issue. However, the principal did not provide a satisfactory response. This led to further anger, and the parents blocked the road and protested. They claimed that the teachers, both of whom belong to a Christian religion, deliberately targeted Hindu students and mistreated them. The agitated parents demanded strict action against the two teachers, who showed a religious bias and discriminated against Hindu students. They said that the teachers follow Christianity and have shown intolerance towards Hindu religious symbols. In response to the allegations, the accused teachers, PT teacher Sunita Kumari and librarian Shweta Priya, stated that many students come to school wearing red and black threads on their wrists and with long hair. They claimed that disciplinary action was taken purely on these grounds, not out of religious prejudice. They denied the accusations made by the children and their parents, saying their intention was never to hurt any religious sentiments. They admitted to disciplining some students during PT sessions but insisted that it was not limited to those wearing kalawa. However, students reported that the teachers told them to remove the Kalawa and accused them of promoting religion in school.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category of - Restriction/Ban on Hindu Practices. Within it, the sub-category selected is - Restriction on expression of Hindu identity. An example of the state-affected prejudicial and targeted orders against the Hindu community would be a government denying the right of a Hindu or a group of Hindus to hold a religious procession owing to the animosity of non-Hindu groups. Denial of the religious right of the Hindus to assuage the non-Hindu group which harbours animosity to a point where it could lead to violence against Hindus is not only a failure of law and order but is a prejudicial order against Hindus, denying them their fundamental rights to express their religious identity. An example of a hate crime against Hindus by a non-Hindu would be a non-Hindu institution forcing its Hindu employees to abandon religious symbols that a Hindu would wear as an expression of faith owing to inherent prejudice against the faith professed by the victim or a non-Hindu group of people restricting a Hindu group from constructing a place of worship simply because the demography of the area in which the temple is being built is dominated by non-Hindus. Such actions are driven by religious animosity and/or prejudice against Hindus and their faith and would therefore be categorized as a hate crime. The other primary category selected is - Attack not resulting in death. Within 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 primary category selected is - Predatory Proselytisation. Within it, the sub-category selected is - Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination. Religious brainwashing essentially means the often subtle and forcible indoctrination to induce someone to give up their religious beliefs to accept contrasting regimented ideas. Religious grooming or brainwashing also involves propaganda and manipulation. It involves the systematic effort, driven by religious malice and indoctrination, to persuade “non-believers’ to accept allegiance, command, or doctrine to and of a contrasting faith. Cases of such grooming or brainwashing are far more nuanced than direct threats, coercion, inducement and violence. In such cases, it is often seen that there is repeated, subtle and continual manipulation of the victim to induce disaffection towards their own faith and acceptance of the contrasting faith of the perpetrator. While subtle indoctrination is widely acknowledged as predatory, an element which is often understated in such conversions or the attempts of such conversion is the role of loyalty and trust which might develop between the perpetrator and the victim. Fiduciary relationships are often abused to affect such religious conversion. For example, an educator transmitting religious doctrine of a competing faith to a Hindu student. The Hindu student is likely to accept what the teacher is transmitting owing to existence of the fiduciary relationship. The exploitation of the fiduciary relationship to religiously indoctrinate victims would also be included in this category. Since the underlying animosity towards the victim’s faith forms the basis of predatory proselytization, such cases are considered religiously motivated hate crimes. In this case, Hindu students were reportedly beaten for wearing kalawa (a sacred thread worn by many Hindus). Much like the beard in Sikhism, the tilak and kalawa are significant expressions of faith in Hinduism, symbolising devotion, cultural heritage, and spiritual identity. Forcing their removal is not only an act of religious suppression but also an attempt to erase visible expressions of Hindu identity. The act of physically assaulting children on account of a harmless and culturally significant expression of their Hindu identity falls squarely within the category “attack not resulting in death – attacked for Hindu identity.” The students did not provoke any violence or cause disruption; rather, they were assaulted merely for displaying an explicit symbol of their faith. Christian teachers inflicted prejudicial treatment on the Hindu religious expression. Here, the Hindu religious expression is deliberately suppressed under the guise of enforcing school discipline. Also, in this case, by discouraging, shaming, or punishing visible expressions of Hindu faith while holding positions of authority over impressionable students, these teachers appear to have breached the fiduciary relationship they hold as educators. The teachers essentially tried to covertly push the children towards Christianity by distancing them from their religion and practices. This sort of harassment is rooted in animosity towards the victim’s religious identity and is therefore documented as a religiously motivated hate crime in this Hinduphobia Tracker. It is further important to note here that the victims were minors, which means the element of consent and genuine change of conscience was missing ab initio. Minors, due to their young age and lack of maturity, are particularly vulnerable to manipulation and coercion. They may not have the ability to fully understand the implications of converting to another religion and the Christian perpetrators purposely targeted and exploited this vulnerability of the victim. Since this case exemplifies the use of coercion and manipulation to achieve religious conversion, it is a blatant act of religious hate, which is why it has been documented here in the hate tracker. However, here, one could argue that schools have the right to enforce uniform rules, since wearing uniforms brings harmony and equality in the classroom, and therefore, school teachers beating Hindu students for wearing Kalawa is not religious discrimination, but merely an enforcement of widely accepted uniform norms. However, it becomes important to mention here that most uniform codes focus on standardising clothing and accessories like shoes, belts, and hair. A tilak or kalawa doesn’t change the appearance of the uniform itself. These symbols are benign and do not cause disruption or harm, raising serious concerns about the motivations behind such enforcement. In sum, the Munger school incident represents a clear violation of the rights of Hindu students to freely practise and express their religious identity. It involves not only an act of physical aggression but also an abuse of authority, cultural suppression, and possible indoctrination—all driven by religious bias. Hence, it is documented as a hate crime in the tracker.
Case Status
Unknown
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 2 To 5
Perpetrators Gender
female
Sources 
