Hindu man shot and critically injured by Muslim relatives for reverting to Hinduism in Uttar Pradesh

Case ID : e275453 | Location : Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Fri, 19 September, 2025

Case ID : e275453

Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India

19 September, 2025

Hindu man shot and critically injured by Muslim relatives for reverting to Hinduism in Uttar Pradesh

Attack not resulting in death

Attacked for Hindu identity

Case Summary

In Aligarh district, Uttar Pradesh, a man named Santosh, who reverted to Hinduism after being a Muslim, was attacked and shot by four of his Muslim relatives. The attack left him severely injured. According to media reports, the victim was earlier a Muslim man named Salman, who reverted to Hinduism and adopted the name Santosh. This enraged his Muslim relatives - Farid, Mustafa, Mujahid, and Amir - who shot him with the intention to kill under the Talsapur highway bridge. The four came on a bike and opened fire at him, hitting his hand and leaving him critically injured. In a desperate bid to save his life, Santosh ran from the scene, but the attackers pursued him for a short distance before fleeing when bystanders began gathering. Local police and a forensic team responded promptly and took Santosh to the district hospital before he was referred to JN Medical College for advanced treatment. Santosh stated that he had reverted to Hinduism out of his own free will and had received death threats from his family after becoming a Hindu. As of the date of writing this report, the police have registered an FIR based on his complaint and launched an investigation, treating the case with utmost seriousness.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

The primary category selected in this case is- Attack not resulting in death. Within this, the subcategory selected is - Attacked for Hindu identity. In several cases, Hindus are attacked merely for their Hindu identity without any perceived provocation. A classic example of this category of religiously motivated hate crime is a murder in 2016. 7 ISIS terrorists were convicted for shooting a school principal in Kanpur because they got ‘triggered’ seeing the Kalava on his wrist and the tilak that he had put. In this, the Hindu victim had offered no provocation except for his Hindu religious identity. The motivation for the murder was purely religious, driven by religious supremacy. Such cases where Hindus are targeted merely for their religious identity would be documented as a hate crime under this category. This case has been added to the tracker because a Hindu man named Santosh, who returned to Hinduism after being a Muslim, was attacked and shot by a group of his own Muslim relatives. He was targeted because, despite being born a Muslim, he chose to return to Hinduism out of his own free will. This angered the Muslim assailants - Farid, Mustafa, Mujahid, and Amir - who not only attacked him but also created an atmosphere of fear and hostility around him by giving him death threats. Their actions were rooted in religious animosity towards Hinduism and were intended to punish him for leaving Islam. It is important to recognise that Santosh is an adult who is free to make his own life choices, including his religion. In fact, he acknowledged that he returned to Hinduism of his own volition. Instead of respecting his decision, his Muslim relatives violently attacked him with the intention of killing him, completely disregarding his autonomy and life choices. This pattern has been witnessed repeatedly, where someone from Islam converts to another religion, especially Hinduism, and is met with hostility and violence from fellow Muslims, who refuse to accept their decision to convert. This attack was not just about bringing the victim back to Islam, but it was also a statement to fellow Muslims if they dared convert to Hinduism. It was an attempt to warn others that any form of apostasy in Islam would be met with violent consequences. Santosh was attacked solely for converting to Hinduism, and the perpetrators’ animosity towards his new faith is the reason this case has been added to the hate crime database of the Hinduphobia Tracker.