Hindu temple vandalised, sacred religious symbols desecrated by miscreant in Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh
Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh, India 
11 February, 2026
Case Summary
The Maa Mainpur Koteshwari Devi Mandir, a revered Hindu temple located in the Mainpur village, Kasya police station area, Kushinagar district, Uttar Pradesh, was vandalised by a 35-year-old woman on 12 February 2026. The accused also desecrated religious symbols like charan paduka (sacred footprints), sacred cloth, and flower garlands placed on revered idols inside the temple. The accused, identified as Kranti Devi, wife of Acchelal, resident of Khadhi (Bhartoli) hamlet in Mainpur, entered the temple's sanctum sanctorum and damaged sacred objects before attacking police personnel who responded to the incident. As per reports, the Maa Mainpur Koteshwari Devi Temple is a revered spiritual and religious site with deep significance for devotees. According to local folklore, the Pandavas spent part of their exile (Agyatvas) at this location, which was historically the stronghold of Mainpur Kot Mallas. The temple attracts devotees year-round from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and other states, with particularly large crowds during Navratri. On the morning of 12 February 2026, Kranti Devi entered the temple premises and went directly into the sanctum sanctorum, which was unlocked at the time. Inside the inner sanctum, she used a brick to break the sacred footprint (charan paduka) of the deity. She then removed and threw away the flower garlands and chunari (sacred cloth) that had been offered to the deity's shrine (pindi). Moving outside the sanctum, she pulled down and threw the idols of Dwar Devi (the gate goddess) and Hanuman Ji that were installed at the entrance of the sanctum sanctorum, though these idols were not damaged in the incident. After completing the vandalism, Kranti Devi sat down inside the sanctum sanctorum. When devotees arrived for morning prayers, they were shocked to find the temple premises in disarray, with the sacred footprint broken and religious offerings scattered throughout. The devotees immediately informed the police. When the Dial 112 emergency response team and Kasya police arrived at the scene, Kranti Devi attacked the officers with bricks and stones. With assistance from local residents, police managed to detain her. Station Officer Abhinav Mishra of Kasya police station claimed that Kranti Devi was ''mentally disturbed''. After detaining her, the police called her family members and handed her over to their custody. The police team installed a new sacred footprint in the temple. The incident sparked significant outrage among devotees in the area. Local residents began raising questions about the temple's security arrangements, noting that the CCTV cameras installed at the temple were non-functional and neither the temple committee nor the local administration had taken steps to repair them. There was no police patrolling arrangement at the temple despite its religious significance.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
The primary category selected in this case is "Attack on Hindu religious representations". The sub-category for this case is "Desecration of Hindu religious symbol". Icons and symbols or a religious representation of a spiritual ideal are widely revered in Hinduism. Iconography is of vital significance in the Hindu milieu. It helps connect people’s spiritual beliefs with the real world. Iconography within the Hindu faith takes several shapes and forms. Murtis are of most significance to Hindus, to which daily rituals, prayers and offerings are done. Besides the murtis, there are several other symbols which have deep significance in the Hindu faith – the Om and Swastika for example. Since these Hindu religious symbols hold paramount importance in Hinduism, any desecration of symbols, icons, murtis, religious representations and manifestations, is driven by animosity towards the faith itself which manifests itself through these murtis, icons and symbols. Therefore, any desecration of these Hindu religious symbols and representations is considered religiously motivated hate crimes under this category. Another sub-category this case qualifies for is "Attack on temples". In Hinduism, a temple is the abode of the Deity. The Deity in the Temple is consecrated, thereby, making it a real, breathing entity. Hindus believe that not just the Deity but the temple premises itself are sacred to Hindus since Hindus hold the faith that the entire Temple space is an amalgamation of the divine energy of the deity. Given the central significance of Temples in Hindu Dharma, any attack against a Hindu Temple or its peripheral premises is an attack on the faith itself and is born out of animosity towards the faith, of which, the Temple is a central tenet. Any manner of attack against a Temple and/or its premises would therefore be considered a religiously motivated hate crime. This case stands as a clear instance of a religiously motivated hate crime, where the perpetrator desecrated the sacred charan paduka in the Maa Mainpur Koteshwari Devi Temple. She also desecrated other religious symbols and vandalised the entire temple. Charan paduka, representing the holy footprints of deities like Lord Shiva, Goddess Durga and Lord Vishnu or other revered figures, hold immense spiritual significance in Hinduism as symbols of divine presence, blessings, and the path to enlightenment; devotees touch, worship, and circumambulate them with profound reverence during rituals and festivals. The act of desecrating such a sacred, religious Hindu symbol amounted to a deep-seated, religiously motivated hate crime, as it inflicted excruciating pain on the religious sentiments of the Hindu community, shattering their hearts when they witnessed their most cherished icons being violated in this brutal manner. This deliberate attack stemmed from animosity towards Hinduism, targeting the core of Hindu devotional practices to humiliate and demoralise devotees, unequivocally marking it as a religiously motivated crime. The perpetrator also desecrated other religious symbols, including the idols of Dwar Devi and Hanuman Ji along with chunari (the sacred cloth draped over idols as a mark of honour and protection) and flower garlands placed on revered idols, discarding them in a profoundly disrespectful manner by trampling and throwing them aside like refuse. For Hindu devotees, idols are manifestations of the divine, and these other symbols embody love, purity, and daily offerings to the divine, evoking tender emotions of bhakti (devotion) and familial bonding with the gods; seeing them desecrated and discarded in a disrespectful manner tore at the very soul of the community, amplifying their grief and sense of violation. This targeted destruction revealed the perpetrator's intent to mock and degrade Hindu worship traditions, rooted in hatred for the faith, and thus constituted a clear religiously motivated hate crime that wounded the collective spirit of the devotees. The attack on such religious symbols amounted to an attack on the temple itself, since these symbols are irreplaceable and inseparable parts of the temple ecosystem, forming the living heart of worship, rituals, and community gatherings. Temples stand as sacred institutions in the Hindu community, holding deep-seated religious significance as places where Hindus believe the divine resides in tangible form through idols, symbols, and consecrated spaces. Any act of desecrating these elements assaulted the temple's sanctity, undermining its role as a spiritual refuge and beacon of faith. This violation struck at Hinduism itself, eroding the community's identity and security in their holy sites, and thereby qualified as a religiously motivated hate crime driven by enmity towards Hindu beliefs and practices. The timing and nature of the incident suggest deliberate targeting of Hindu religious practice. The woman entered during the early morning hours when temples typically prepare for the day's worship rituals. Her actions prevented devotees from conducting their morning prayers in the proper sanctified environment, directly interfering with Hindu religious observance. The destruction of the charan paduka meant that worship could not proceed as normal until the sacred object was replaced. However, a critical factor in this case is the police's claim that the perpetrator was mentally disturbed. Station Officer Abhinav Mishra claimed that Kranti Devi was "mentally disturbed," and rather than filing charges, police released her to family custody. This raises important questions about intent and capacity. In several cases, where anti-Hindu perpetrators vandalise and desecrate Hindu places of worship, a usual trope to shield the perpetrator is to attribute the crime to the mental health of the accused, claiming that the crime was committed since the perpetrator was ‘mentally ill’ or ‘mentally unstable’. The police and the media, in many such cases, where the crime has been committed against the Hindu faith by an anti-Hindu perpetrator, deny that the crime committed was in any way motivated by a religious bias and attribute it to the perpetrator’s mental health. Many a time, the police downplay incidents of low-level communal crime because it is their jurisdiction that comes under question. The police also often say that the crime was committed since the accused was mentally unstable, because they wish to ensure that, owing to the crime already committed, there is no further flare-up in the area. Similarly, in this case, the police attributed the act of vandalism at the Hindu temple to the miscreant's mental illness. The use of the "mental illness" trope to justify crimes targeting Hindu temples or idols raises critical questions. If the perpetrator was indeed mentally challenged, why did she specifically target Hindu religious symbols like the idols, charan paduka, chunari, and flower garlands in the temple, leaving any other religious places untouched? This selective focus suggests that such acts were not driven by mental health issues but by religious animosity. The repeated use of this narrative to downplay crimes against Hindus reflects a strategic effort to whitewash religious hatred, obscuring the true motivations and intentions behind the attack. Overall, this particular case meets many parameters of a religiously motivated hate crime. Henceforth, it is being added to the hate crime database of the Hinduphobia Tracker.
Case Status
Perpatrator released by Police
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Others
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
female
Sources 
