Sacred Shivpindi vandalised and defiled with human excreta by miscreants ahead of Mahashivratri festival in Raigarh
Raigarh, Chhattisgarh, India 
10 February, 2026
Case Summary
A sacred Hindu religious symbol, a Shivpindi, was vandalised and defiled with human excreta by miscreants just days before the Mahashivratri celebrations in Raigarh, Chhattisgarh. According to media reports, the vandalism took place on 11 February 2026. Prior to a few days earlier, the pindi was defiled with human excreta by miscreants. The incident came to light early in the morning of 11 February 2026 when devotees arrived for special prayers and rituals. They found the Shivpindi damaged and desecrated. A few days earlier, the same Shivpindi had been defiled with human excreta. At that time, a Hindu youth from the village had cleaned it. The temple had been cleaned and decorated on the night of 10 February 2026 in preparation for Mahashivratri celebrations on 15 February 2026. Villagers stated that the vandalism took place late at night after the decorations were completed, just hours before devotees were to gather. News of the desecration spread quickly, leading to anger among residents. A large number of villagers gathered at the temple premises and staged a protest, condemning the act and demanding immediate arrests. They expressed anguish that such an incident occurred on the sacred occasion of Mahashivratri. Police teams reached the temple and began an investigation. Evidence was collected from the temple complex and nearby areas, and closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage was examined to identify the culprits. When a reporter questioned the police, they claimed, “There was a mentally unstable woman (referring to the temple caretaker) in the village; she may have done this. There was nothing significant enough here to report.” Social activist Mr Avinash Patil from the village had constructed the Shivpindi and its platform. When the correspondent contacted him for details, his wife, Mrs Patil, stated, “Police told him not to publicise the matter too much. This had angered the villagers greatly.” The villagers stated that in reality, the woman resided at the temple, maintained its cleanliness and offered flowers to Bhagwan Shiva. Villagers asserted that she could not have committed such an act.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case is being added to the tracker under the primary category- Attack on Hindu religious representations. The subcategory selected is- Desecration of a 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 a religiously motivated hate crime under this category. The other 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. Several such customs and traditions 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. This case was a clear instance of a religiously motivated hate crime as the perpetrators vandalised and defiled a sacred Hindu religious symbol, a Shivpindi, just days before the Mahashivratri festival. Hindu symbols like the Shivpindi hold deep significance for Hindus, representing Lord Shiva's divine presence and being worshipped with utmost purity through rituals. The act of vandalising it by causing physical damage, desecrating it, and defiling it by putting human excreta on it amounted to a religiously motivated hate crime driven by deep-seated religious animosity. These acts hurt the religious sentiments of the Hindu community profoundly. Furthermore, prior to the vandalism, unknown miscreants also defiled the sacred Shivpindi by putting human excreta on it, a substance considered impure in Hinduism. Knowing Hindus maintain strict purity for such worshipped symbols, the perpetrators deliberately chose this method to defile the Shivpindi and cause maximum hurt to the Hindu community. All this showcased deep-seated religious animosity towards Hindus and their faith, making it a religiously motivated offence. The timing of the attack right before the Mahashivratri festival showed that the perpetrators wanted to cause maximum harm and religious hurt to the Hindu community and disturb their celebrations. Mahashivratri is one of the holiest Hindu festivals, drawing millions in devotion. Striking just days prior amplified the injury during this peak spiritual time. All this amounted to a clear case of a religiously motivated hate crime against Hindus during one of their most sacred festivals. Furthermore, instead of searching for the accused, the police tried to shift the blame onto the Hindu female caretaker, whom they called mentally unstable, claiming her mental illness caused the desecration, a claim refuted by the Hindu villagers. This showcased utter bias and inaction on the police's part when Hindu places of worship are targeted in hate crimes. Furthermore, in several cases where Hindu places of worship are desecrated, police and media often use the trope of attributing the crime to mental illness, claiming the accused was “mentally unstable”. This narrative denies the religious bias underlying the crime and downplays its seriousness. Many times, police downplay incidents of communal crime to avoid scrutiny of their jurisdiction or to prevent further flare-ups. In this case, too, the police attempted to dismiss the incident by falsely attributing the desecration to a “mentally unstable woman” from the village. However, villagers immediately rejected this, pointing out that she was the temple’s caretaker, responsible for its cleanliness and offering flowers to Bhagwan Shiva. Far from a perpetrator, she was a devoted custodian of the temple’s sanctity. The police’s attempt to scapegoat her angered the community, seen as a deliberate strategy to evade responsibility, suppress the crime’s gravity, and avoid pursuing real culprits. The pattern of two successive desecrations at the same site, combined with the institutional attempt to blame a supposed mentally unstable woman, known to the village as a devoted temple caretaker, plus the police's quiet pressure on locals not to publicise the matter, confirms targeted anti-Hindu violence met with deliberate institutional minimisation. This pattern mirrors other cases where crimes against Hindu temples are minimised or misrepresented by blaming mental instability rather than acknowledging religiously motivated hatred. Such false attribution denies justice to the Hindu victims and perpetuates impunity for perpetrators of hate crimes against Hindus. In this case, even though the identity of the accused remained unknown, the act demonstrated clear religious animosity. Therefore, it was added to the hate crime database of the tracker. Disclaimer: The Hinduphobia Tracker records incident dates based on when the crime began, rather than when it was reported by the media. In this case, media reports did not specify the exact date of the earlier desecration and defilement of the Shivapindi by placing human excreta on it. The date selected as the indicative incident date is 11 February 2026, when the Shivapindi was recently vandalised. This date is recorded for documentation purposes only.
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