Hindu student abused and brutally attacked by Muslim students for playing devotional music

Case ID : e6919c5 | Location : Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Thu, 25 December, 2025

Case ID : e6919c5

Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, India

25 December, 2025

Hindu student abused and brutally attacked by Muslim students for playing devotional music

Attack not resulting in death

Attacked for Hindu identity

Communal clash/attack

Case Summary

In the Ujjain district of Madhya Pradesh, a Hindu student named Mohit Singh was brutally assaulted by a group of Muslim students led by Hasan Ali for playing Hindu devotional music on his mobile phone. According to reports, the incident occurred when Mohit Singh, a second-year B. Pharma student at Alpine College on Dewas Road, was playing bhajans (Hindu devotional music) on his phone in the college bus on his way to college. During this time, a Muslim student named Hasan Ali objected to the volume, following which the Hindu student lowered the volume immediately. However, after reaching the college, Hasan Ali arrived in Mohit’s class along with his friends, including Sohail Khan, Rehan Mansoori, Mohammad Mois, Sufian and others, where they threatened and abused him. A teacher intervened and temporarily defused the situation. Later, during the lunch break, one of Mohit's friends told him that Rehan and Sohail were calling him to the canteen. When Mohit went to the canteen along with his friends, Sohail Khan, Rehan Mansoori, Mohammad Mois, Mahfooz Beg, Sufian, Sharab, Keshav Goswami, Hasan Ali, and their other friends were already present there, armed with sticks and pipes. They confronted Mohit, abused him, punched him and brutally assaulted him with sticks. When Mohit's friends resisted and confronted the accused, they were also abused, leading to a wider confrontation between two groups of students. Subsequently, the police were informed about the incident and arrived at the college, after which a case was registered on the basis of a complaint. Following the incident, members of Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal reached the college, recited Hanuman Chalisa and demanded strict action against those involved. The college administration also lodged a complaint at the police station.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category of: - Attack not resulting in death. Within it, the sub-category 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 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. The second sub-category selected here is: - Communal clash/attack. Communal clash is a form of collective violence that involves clashes between groups belonging to different religious identities. For a communal clash between Hindus and non-Hindus to qualify as a religiously motivated hate crime, the trigger of the violence itself would have to be anti-Hindu in essence. For example, if there is a Hindu religious procession that comes under attack from a non-Hindu mob and after the initial attack, Hindus retaliate in self-defence, leading to a communal clash between the two religious communities. While at a later stage, both communities are involved in the clash/violence, the initial trigger of the violence was by the non-Hindu mob against the Hindus and therefore, it could safely be termed as an anti-Hindu violence. Further, the trigger would also have to be religiously motivated. In the cited example, the attack by the non-Hindu mob was against religious processions and therefore, can be concluded to be religiously motivated. In some cases, the trigger may be non-religious, however, it develops into religious violence against Hindus at a later stage. In such cases too, the foundational animosity towards Hindus becomes the motivating factor of the crime and therefore, it would be classified as a religiously motivated hate crime against Hindus under this category. This case has been added to the tracker because a Hindu student was targeted and violently assaulted by a group of Muslim students for playing Hindu devotional music on his mobile phone. The sole trigger for the violence was because the victim was playing bhajans in the bus. Despite immediately lowering the volume upon objection, the Hindu student was later singled out, threatened, and physically attacked, demonstrating that the issue was not noise or disturbance but the expression of Hindu religious identity itself. This is on the lines of a pattern where Hindus are attacked by the Muslims just for expressing their religious identity or for outward display of their faith or devotion. Be it the playing of bhajans, the wearing of a tilak, or other outward expressions of Hindu devotion, such acts are treated as provocations and are repeatedly met with hostility from Muslim groups. In this case, the Hindu student complied immediately when asked to lower the volume, yet he was later confronted inside the college premises, abused, and brutally beaten with sticks and pipes. This sequence of events established that the assault was deliberate, retaliatory, and premeditated rather than spontaneous. The fact that the accused regrouped, armed themselves, and coordinated the attack inside the college campus reinforced the targeted nature of the violence. The assault was unprovoked in nature, as the victim neither retaliated nor engaged in any conduct that could justify such aggression. The violence stemmed from intrinsic religious hostility towards the visible expression of the Hindu faith. The deliberate escalation from a minor objection to a coordinated physical assault revealed an underlying doctrinal animosity, where Hindu identity itself became the basis for attack. In this case, the manner in which the accused called his associates, carried weapons, and assaulted the victim indicated a mindset of dominance and intimidation. The participation of multiple Muslim students and other associates showed that the attack was not an individual altercation but a group action, motivated by religious animosity. Hindus often face hostility since the Muslim groups harbour antagonism towards the Hindu faith and the adherents of Hinduism. Such religious and doctrinal animosity manifests in violence against Hindu individuals when they outwardly display their faith in a public place. Since the violence was a product of religious animosity, this case is being categorised as a religiously motivated hate crime. Disclaimer: Media reports indicate that multiple individuals were involved in the attack; however, only a limited number of perpetrators have been explicitly identified by name. Since seven individuals have been named in connection with the assault, the perpetrator count has been recorded as 7. Furthermore, the Hinduphobia Tracker documents incidents of violence against Hindus committed by non-Hindu perpetrators. Accordingly, for the purpose of documentation, only the Muslim accused have been considered in the perpetrator count. Disclaimer on victim count- The victim count has been recorded as one, as Mohit Singh is the only individual clearly identified and named as having suffered direct physical assault. While his friends were verbally abused and a wider confrontation occurred, there is no confirmed information indicating that others sustained injuries, nor have any additional victims been specifically identified or named in the available reports.