Minor Hindu boy verbally abused and subjected to death threats by Muslim youths for being seen roaming with Muslim girl

Case ID : d327a6a | Location : Chikmagalur, Karnataka, India | Date of Incident : Wed, 25 February, 2026

Case ID : d327a6a

Chikmagalur, Karnataka, India

25 February, 2026

Minor Hindu boy verbally abused and subjected to death threats by Muslim youths for being seen roaming with Muslim girl

Men attacked for being associated with non-Hindu women

Attacked/killed for being associated or suspicion of being associated with Muslim woman

Case Summary

In the Malad town of Chikkamagaluru, Karnataka, a 17-year-old Dalit Hindu boy was verbally abused and subjected to death threats by a group of Muslim youths for being seen roaming around with a Muslim girl. According to reports, the Dalit Hindu boy was riding a motorbike with his minor female friend, who was a Muslim. The two were intercepted at Jyoti Circle on Market Road late on the evening of 26 February 2026 by a group of Muslim youths who confronted and threatened the boy for taking the Muslim girl on his bike. At that time, the altercation was diffused. However, the confrontation escalated further later that night when the Muslim group went to the boy’s residence in the Tamil Colony area and forcibly entered the house. They verbally abused him and his family and issued death threats. The boy, who belonged to a Scheduled Caste family, had grown up with the Muslim girl, and they were childhood friends Subsequently, a complaint lodged by his uncle, Suman, against the Muslim attackers, based on which the Chikkamagaluru district police took swift action. Superintendent of Police Jitendra Kumar Dayama confirmed that three accused were taken into custody and an FIR was registered against eight individuals. An investigation into the incident was initiated by the police.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category of: - Men attacked for being associated with non-Hindu women. Within it, the sub-category selected is: - Attacked/killed for being associated or suspicion of being associated with Muslim woman. There have been several cases documented of Hindu men/boys being attacked specifically by Muslim groups/mobs for merely being associated or suspicion of being associated or being seen with a Muslim woman in public. In most of such cases, the Hindu man is not in a relationship with the Muslim woman, however, the mob proceeds to threaten and/or assault the Hindu man for merely being associated with the Muslim woman in any capacity. The rise of such crimes stems from a particularly sinister campaign run by several Muslim ideologues and activists. The campaign claims that Hindu men are attempting to ‘lure’ Muslim women into relationships to ensure that Muslim women leave their faith and follow Hinduism. The propaganda has been spearheaded with the help of WhatsApp groups and the extensive use of social media, sans evidence of the same. In many cases, pamphlets were fabricated to lend credence to this campaign. The root of this campaign lies in the fact that several cases of sectarian crimes against Hindu women in relationships with Muslim men have been documented. In such cases, Hindu women have often been forced/pressured to convert to Islam, assaulted, threatened and even murdered owing specifically to their religious identity and their refusal to give up that religious identity to adopt Islam. To delegitimize the suffering of Hindu women when such sectarian crimes are committed against them, the theory of ‘Bhagwa Love Trap’ was floated by sections of the Muslim community. As this theory gained traction, Muslim mobs started targeting Hindu men who were seen with Muslim women. In several such cases, the Hindu man was assaulted merely for offering to drop a Muslim woman in his vehicle or being friends. The differentiating factor between such cases and legitimate cases of Hindu women being targeted while in a relationship with Muslim men is that there is no sectarian violence, and force/pressure to convert. The nature of sectarian violence against Hindu women is not about two adults in a consensual relationship, working together, studying together, or even marrying each other where religious considerations are declared. In this category of crimes, it is pertinent to remember that in none of the cases, there is an element of the Hindu man masking his identity or forced religious conversion. Such cases are driven by specific religious motivations and against the religious identity of the victim and are therefore qualified as hate crimes. This case constituted a clear instance of religiously motivated targeting in which a Hindu boy, belonging to a Scheduled Caste community, was harassed and threatened for being in the company of his minor Muslim female friend by a group of Muslim youths. The incident was not triggered by any inappropriate behaviour or public misconduct but solely by the religious identities of the individuals involved. The two minors were childhood friends who had grown up together and were travelling on a motorbike when they were stopped and questioned. The hostility directed at the boy stemmed from disapproval of an interfaith association, reflecting an attempt to police social interaction based on religious grounds. The Muslim youths objected to the fact that a Muslim girl was seen with a Hindu boy in a public space. This reaction was not motivated by concern for the girl’s safety or consent, but rather by an ingrained religious bias and a desire to enforce sectarian boundaries through intimidation, threats and violence. The intimidation that followed, including verbal threats and later forcibly entering the boy’s residence at night to abuse and threaten his family, demonstrated that the issue extended beyond a spontaneous objection. Such conduct went beyond so-called moral policing and entered the realm of coercion and targeted intimidation. This was not an isolated outburst, but a targeted act driven by a deeply ingrained hostility toward the Hindu identity of the boy. The actions were deliberate, unprovoked, and carried out with the intent to publicly enforce a discriminatory belief system that denies Hindu men the right to associate with Muslim women freely. The justification for such actions stems from the conspiracy theory of ‘Bhagwa Love Trap’, which is explicitly rooted in anti-Hindu sentiment. This false narrative vilifies Hindu men by portraying them as predators targeting Muslim women, despite no basis in reality. It is weaponised to legitimise violence against Hindus, as seen in this case, where a group of Muslim men took it upon themselves to harass the duo for simply being seen together. This act underscores a discriminatory mindset that seeks to target individuals based solely on their religious affiliation, irrespective of the situation. Such incidents highlight the systematic and deliberate nature of religious intolerance, deeply rooted in hatred for Hindus and their faith. Considering these factors, the case has been categorised as a religiously motivated hate crime, driven by the perpetrators' hostility toward the Hindu community and its beliefs. The sequence of events suggested that the boy’s Hindu identity was central to the hostility he faced. He was singled out, subjected to death threats, intended to deter him from freely associating with his Muslim friend. The targeting of his home further underscored the intent to punish and socially isolate him within the community. The absence of any allegation of wrongdoing on the part of the minors reinforced that the reaction was rooted in religious prejudice rather than legitimate grievance. Disclaimer: The Hinduphobia Tracker documents offences committed against Hindus by perpetrators. In this instance, the Hindu boy and his uncle Suman, has been recorded as the primary victims. Accordingly, the victim count has been noted as 2.