Case Summary

In the Sitapur district, Uttar Pradesh, Hindu devotees performing danda parikrama (a form of prostration pilgrimage) were targeted with eggshells, water, and physical assault by members of the Muslim community. The incident occurred near the under-construction site of Brahmachari Baba’s shrine in Seuta, under the Reusa police station limits. According to the accounts of the devotees, a group of them began their danda parikrama from Saukher Bohra village and were on their way to the Seuta temple when they were attacked. Near Seuta village, at the site of the Brahmachari Baba chakra, members of the Muslim community threw eggshells and water at the pilgrims and verbally abused them. When the devotees protested, they were assaulted with sticks. Hindu children, men and women were assaulted. Shibu, son of Shripal, a resident of Bohra and a participant in the pilgrimage, stated that he was attacked with eggshells and water and later beaten when he resisted. Another devotee, Ramakant, son of Murli, from the same village, echoed the same account. The incident prompted immediate police response, with Reusa station in-charge Hanumant Lal Tiwari arriving at the location with a police force to de-escalate the situation. Leaders and members of the Bajrang Dal, including Sandeep Bajrangi, were also present at the site and demanded the immediate arrest of all those involved. Sakran SHO Navneet Mishra confirmed that although the situation remains tense, the police have maintained control. According to Additional Superintendent of Police (North), Alok Singh, three suspects were taken into custody and efforts to maintain peace in the area were ongoing.

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Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category of - Attack not resulting in death. Within it, the sub-category selected is - Attack on religious procession. The outward celebration and display of religious symbols in an intrinsic part of Hinduism. Religious processions on various festivals are age-old traditions and a way to manifest faith and form a part of the religious practices of Hindus. On several occasions, such religious processions come under attack by non-Hindu mobs, in a manifestation of their animosity towards Hinduism and their practices. The reasons cited for such violent attacks are many and range from crossing a non-Hindu resident-dominated area to playing loud music, crossing from an area where there is a religious structure of another faith etc. The violent attacks are triggered by the outward display of religiosity by Hindus. The attacks are mainly a manifestation of religious supremacist doctrine which believes that idolatry, essentially the Hindu faith, is one that deserves to be annihilated since the very tenets of Hinduism, its practices and traditions are considered a sin in those doctrines. Since these attacks emanate from intrinsic and doctrinal animosity towards Hindus and Hinduism, it is considered a religiously motivated hate crime under this category. The other sub-category selected is - Attack against Hindu devotees. Hindu devotees are a few of the easiest targets of religiously motivated hate crimes because during the festival/procession/puja etc, for non-Hindus it is easy to profile their victims on the basis of religion. Hindu devotees come under attack on several occasions by individual non-Hindus or mobs of non-Hindus owing to their animosity against Hinduism, its symbols and tradition/practices. There are several instances of Hindu devotees being attacked while they worship in temples or temporary religious structures, during religious processions, doing bhajan/kirtan/puja in their own homes, in the residential society etc. These attacks are perpetrated by non-Hindus primarily because of their animosity towards Hindus and their faith. In some cases, the trigger for the violence may be non-religious, however, there are two elements that make these hate crimes. First, the Hindus who come under attack are attacked violently while indulging in religious activity. Whether they are in a place of worship or not is immaterial to the crime. When individuals are attacked while indulging in religious practices, the attack in itself is a hindrance to their freedom to practice religion and therefore constitutes a hate crime. Secondly, religious supremacist doctrines and ideologies deem religious practices of Hindus to be offensive ab initio since they are considered “sinful” by these ideologies, worthy to be annihilated by force or coercion. Driven by these religious supremacist ideologies and doctrines, the attacks against Hindu devotees stem from intrinsic animosity towards Hinduism. In some cases, the trigger for the violence may be non-religious, however, it develops into a religiously motivated crime during the course of the violence. Since these attacks stem from animosity towards Hindus and Hinduism, they are considered religiously motivated hate crimes under this category. The other 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 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 attack on Hindu devotees performing danda parikrama in Sitapur is a textbook case of a hate crime against Hindus. The pilgrims were publicly engaging in a devotional practice, physically prostrating along a set route to express their faith. This visible display of Hindu religiosity was met with targeted hostility—eggshells and water were hurled at them, they were verbally abused, and physically assaulted. Such processions, deeply rooted in Hindu tradition, often become flashpoints for violence precisely because of the open expression of religious identity. The hostility displayed by the attackers reflects more than a local dispute. It is a manifestation of deeper religious intolerance. The act of disrupting and assaulting a religious procession solely because it represents Hindu beliefs reflects the influence of supremacist ideologies that regard such expressions of Hindu faith as unacceptable or offensive. The violence here was not incidental; it was directly triggered by the visible practice of Hindu rituals in public space, which squarely places the incident under the category of a religiously motivated hate crime. This case also clearly falls under the category of an attack on Hindu devotees. The victims were not random individuals, but pilgrims actively engaged in religious observance. Their status as worshippers made them easy targets for profiling and assault. The perpetrators specifically targeted them at a point when they were immersed in a sacred journey—danḍa parikramā—which involves extreme physical devotion and is a recognised religious act. The devotees were not inside a formal temple, yet they were performing a religious act in a public space, which should still guarantee their right to practice religion freely and without fear. The violence they faced—verbal abuse, symbolic defilement with eggshells and water, and physical assault—was all designed to disrupt and insult their faith. Such attacks stem from a deep-seated disdain for Hindu traditions and are driven by ideologies that deem Hindu worship practices to be inferior or sinful. The attack constitutes a direct interference in the free exercise of religion and thus qualifies as a hate crime against Hindu devotees. The attack was not prompted by any provocation from the victims other than their Hindu identity and religious expression. The very act of being Hindu and performing a Hindu religious ritual in public became the reason for the violence. The use of eggshells and insults was intended not just to disrupt but to humiliate the devotees and convey contempt for their religious affiliation. Such incidents reflect a pattern where individuals are singled out merely for visible markers of their faith—whether it be traditional dress, sacred threads, or ritual participation. In this case, it was the act of performing daṇḍa parikramā that marked them out for targeting. The motivation here is unmistakably communal and ideological, rooted in the notion that the presence or expression of Hinduism is in itself offensive. Within the unfolding of this incident, those who tried to oppose the assault and stood up against the attackers were also subjected to violence. When the devotees protested against the attack and verbal abuse, they were not only ignored but were then physically beaten with sticks. The original attack and the retaliation against protestors are not separate—they are both products of the same ideology that seeks to suppress Hindu faith and penalise resistance. Thus, this case is documented as a hate crime.