Hindu devotees brutally attacked and stabbed during Durga Puja idol immersion in Jharkhand

Case ID : b1c5c00 | Location : Chakradharpur, Jharkhand, India | Date of Incident : Thu, 2 October, 2025

Case ID : b1c5c00

Chakradharpur, Jharkhand, India

2 October, 2025

Hindu devotees brutally attacked and stabbed during Durga Puja idol immersion in Jharkhand

Attack not resulting in death

Attack on religious procession

Attack against Hindu devotees

Communal clash/attack

Case Summary

In the Harijan colony of Chakradharpur town, Jharkhand, seven Hindu devotees, belonging to the backward community, were brutally attacked with knives during the Durga Puja immersion procession. According to reports, on the night of 3rd October 2025, the Hindu devotees were returning to the Harijan colony, their residence, after immersing the idol of their Durja Puja pandal. During this time, about 15 assailants entered the procession and launched a violent assault with knives on Hindu devotees. The sudden attack caused chaos and panic among devotees, with bystanders and family members rushing to assist the wounded. The assailants fled the scene immediately after the assault. The victims, identified as Dhruv Mukhi, Govinda Mukhi, Dinesh Mukhi, Ricky Mukhi, Atul Mukhi, Aman Mukhi, and Ajay Mukhi, sustained multiple stab wounds and were seriously injured. Among them, Ricky Mukhi’s condition was reported to be critical, and he was admitted to Chakradharpur Railway Hospital along with the other injured youths. Police also arrived at the location, collected evidence, and launched an investigation into the incident. The injured youths provided information about the identity of the attackers, though it was not made public, prompting police to launch a search operation. At the time of writing this report, no arrests were made. The attack provoked widespread anger and distress in the Harijan colony, with residents demanding strict action against the perpetrators. The police assured that the culprits would be apprehended soon and that the matter was being treated with the utmost seriousness.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

The primary category in this case is: Attack not resulting in death. The subcategory under this 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 subcategory under this 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 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. This case has been added to the tracker because it represents a direct attack on Hindu devotees during a Hindu religious festival, an act that constitutes a hate crime against Hindus. The devotees were returning after immersion of the Durga idol, thus they were engaging in devotion. This was not a random dispute but a violent assault on the Hindu devotees of the Durga Puja immersion procession, and an attempt to obstruct the free expression of Hindu faith during one of its most significant festivals, the Durga Puja. The attackers targeted Hindu devotees participating in the immersion of the Durga Puja idol, a deeply significant ritual symbolising the farewell of Goddess Durga and the culmination of the festival. During the procession, devotees carry her idol for immersion in a water body, signifying her return to her divine cosmic abode after being worshipped during the Durga Puja festival. These processions carry profound reverence for the Hindu community, symbolising both spiritual devotion and cultural identity. Attacking such a procession was a direct assault on Hindu religious practices and beliefs, constituting a religiously motivated crime. This incident reveals an attempt to infringe on the Hindu community’s right to religious expression. The victims were not random individuals but devotees visibly participating in a religious ritual. The attack aimed to stop them from carrying out their sacred duties, showing clear hostility towards Hindus. By targeting the religious procession and injuring the devotees, the attackers not only harmed the devotees physically but also showed disrespect and animosity towards Hinduism, its beliefs and practices. It was aimed at intimidating the Hindu community, disrupting religious observances, and restricting outward expressions of Hindu identity. Taken together, these facts demonstrate that this was a communally motivated attack against Hindus, reflecting hostility toward their faith and community. Though the attackers remain unknown, the attack stemmed from religious animosity toward the Hindu faith. Accordingly, this case has been added to the Hinduphobia Tracker as a religiously motivated hate crime and an attack on Hindu devotees and religious processions.