Hindu religious event attacked, devotees brutally assaulted and stone-pelted by Muslim group in Uttar Pradesh

Case ID : b1c5c7b | Location : Hapur, Uttar Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Fri, 3 October, 2025

Case ID : b1c5c7b

Hapur, Uttar Pradesh, India

3 October, 2025

Hindu religious event attacked, devotees brutally assaulted and stone-pelted by Muslim group in Uttar Pradesh

Attack on Hindu religious representations

Defiling religious customs

Attack not resulting in death

Attack against Hindu devotees

Case Summary

In Hapur, Uttar Pradesh, a Hindu religious event was attacked, and Hindu devotees were brutally assaulted by members of the Muslim community. The event had been organised by a Dalit Hindu family. The incident took place in Mohammadpur Rustampur village, under the jurisdiction of Bahadurgarh police station, where Muslim youths assaulted members of a Dalit Hindu family and desecrated their sacred religious ceremony. The victims were Soran Singh's family, who had recently undertaken a pilgrimage to the Hindu goddess Nagarkot Mata. Consequently, the religious ceremony was being held at their home. Relatives of the Soran family had also visited for the event. Late in the evening, two of Soran's relatives, Prince and Sagar, residents of Sikheda village under Simbhaoli police station, arrived. At one point, Sagar went a short distance away to relieve himself. He was surrounded by a group of Muslim youths from the village and severely beaten. Sagar sustained a head injury, and Prince also suffered serious injuries. When Sagar returned home and recounted the assault, his family began protesting. Shortly afterwards, a group of Muslim youths stormed towards the house where the religious event was underway, attacking it and pelting stones. This escalation triggered violent clashes between Soran Singh’s family and the Muslim attackers. Upon receiving information about the violence and stone-pelting, police teams from two to three nearby stations promptly reached the scene. As soon as the police force reached the village, the Muslim attackers fled. Angered by the incident, the Hindu youths expressed outrage and demanded immediate action against the perpetrators. The police calmed the situation by assuring the crowd that action would be taken against the attackers. Security forces were stationed in the village as a precaution, and the area remained peaceful thereafter. Hapur Additional Superintendent of Police Vineet Bhatnagar stated that Rustampur Mohammadpur is a village under the Bahadurgarh police station. A local Hindu resident, Soran Singh, had been hosting a religious event at his residence, attended by his relatives from outside the village. While some guests went to relieve themselves, they passed near a poultry farm owned by a Muslim man, Abuzar, where three or four people (Muslims) were seated. The Muslims objected to their presence, leading to a dispute. Two people, Prince and Sagar, were injured in a physical assault by the Muslim accused. Following this, a case was registered, and legal proceedings were initiated. Subsequently, the Hapur police arrested one accused, Uwaid, in connection with the incident. The case was registered at the Bahadurgarh police station under sections 115(2), 352, 351(2)(3), and 110 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). At the time of writing this report, further investigations are ongoing.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

The primary category selected in this case is- Attack on Hindu religious representations. Within this, the subcategory selected is- Defiling religious customs. Sanatan Dharma is not a religion of one book, which is to say that while it has religious scriptures that form the central tenets of the faith, there are several traditions followed through thousands of years, mostly passed from generation to generation orally. There are several such customs and traditions that are followed by various Hindus and Hindu sects. Defiling of these traditions and customs is a breach of an individual or group’s religious practices. Such practices can range from dietary restrictions like not eating non-vegetarian food for a certain period of the year, not eating non-vegetarian food at all, not eating beef since the cow is considered holy in Hinduism, the sanctity of religious customs followed in the house (like many ISCKON devotees), etc. Any malicious action leading to the breach of such traditions or defilement of these traditions owing to animosity towards the faith or for the sake of activism stems not only from the lack of faith in the religion itself but also from disregard for the faith of the devotees who follow the customs/traditions and implicit bias against the faith, the tradition itself. Since these specific traditions are central to the faith of the devotees of that specific sect of Hindus, any non-compliance with these traditional rules would be considered a religiously motivated hate crime. Another primary category selected is- Attack not resulting in Death. Within this, the subcategory 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. In this case, the initial dispute began when two Hindu relatives, Sagar and Prince, went out to relieve themselves near the locality of a poultry farm owned by a Muslim man named Abuzar in Mohammadpur Rustampur village. Some Muslim youths, who were present there, objected to their act and engaged them in a verbal confrontation. The situation quickly turned violent when the Muslim youths brutally assaulted the two Hindu men. Sagar sustained a severe head injury, while Prince was also seriously injured. Although the initial altercation appeared to arise from a non-religious issue, the disproportionate reaction of the Muslim assailants raised strong suspicion of religious animosity. The excessiveness of the violence against the two Hindu men suggests that the aggression may have been driven by deep-rooted communal hostility rather than a mere dispute over land or space. Following this, when Sagar returned home and informed his family, his relatives protested against the assault. In response, the Muslim group launched a violent attack on the Hindu family’s home, where a religious event dedicated to the Hindu Goddess Nagarkot Mata was being conducted. They charged towards the house, pelting stones and brutally attacking the devotees and guests gathered there. This violent intrusion into a sacred Hindu space during a religious event amounted to desecration and defilement of a religiously significant Hindu observance. Hindu religious events such as this carry deep faith and emotional significance for devotees, symbolising purity, divine protection, and familial devotion. Therefore, the act of attacking such an event not only violated the sanctity of a Hindu religious gathering but also clearly demonstrated deep-seated religious animosity and intolerance. This desecration of a religious atmosphere reflects a conscious intent to insult and undermine Hindu faith practices, qualifying the incident as an instance of a hate crime against Hindus. Furthermore, it was not only the religious space that came under attack, but also the Hindu devotees themselves. This direct assault on Hindu devotees who were participating peacefully in a religious ceremony reflected an intent to terrorise and harm individuals for practising their religion. Such targeted violence against Hindus during a sacred observance lays bare a pattern of hate-motivated aggression, where the victims were attacked not for personal enmity but for their religious identity and the act of performing Hindu worship rituals. An attack on Hindu devotees during a religious event amounts to a hate crime, as it is motivated by prejudice and hostility towards a community. The deliberate targeting of participants engaged in a religious ceremony demonstrates an assault on the very right to practise one’s religion freely. The act of invading and vandalising a Hindu family’s residence during their celebration of a religious event associated with a goddess held sacred in their tradition shows clear disregard for the Hindu faith and the sacred event. It seeks to humiliate and subdue a community through violence and desecration. Such acts have long-term social implications, spreading fear among Hindu families about practising their religion openly within their own neighbourhoods. The situation escalated into serious clashes between the Hindu family and members of the Muslim community, prompting immediate police intervention. Officers from multiple police stations rushed to the village to control the violence and prevent further damage. The need for such extensive police involvement highlights both the scale and intensity of the attack. It also underscores that the target of aggression was not merely individuals but a collective Hindu religious event and its faithful devotees, illustrating the severity and communal nature of the offence. This case is therefore an example of a religiously motivated hate crime. Hence, it is being added to the hate crime database of the Hinduphobia Tracker. Disclaimer: Media reports covering this case have not mentioned the total number of victims. They have only specified the names of three identified victims, Soran Singh, his relative Sagar, and Prince. As the total number of affected family members has not been reported, we have taken a conservative estimate and recorded the victim count as '3' based on the available information. The police stated that 3-4 Muslims attacked Sagar and Prince. Therefore, we are keeping the perpetrator count as '4'.