Minor Hindu girl harassed by Muslim youth; she and brother assaulted for resisting, locals confirm targeted attacks on Hindu girls
Begusarai, Bihar, India 
22 June, 2025
Case Summary
In Begusarai, a minor Hindu girl was harassed by two Muslim youths while returning home from school after an exam. The youths misbehaved, made obscene remarks, and assaulted her and her brother when they protested. It is reported that near a middle school located in Pubara village under Manjhaul police station area, the minor Hindu girl was returning home with her brother after appearing for the first shift of her Intermediate exam when two Muslim youths used indecent language and harassed her. Initially, the student ignored the incident and went home. However, when she was again going to school with her brother to take the second shift exam, the same two Muslim youths, who had been waiting, reappeared and began misbehaving with her. The youths pulled her dupatta (scarf), blocked her way, and made obscene remarks. When the victim and her brother protested, both were assaulted. Local residents say that there is a puncture repair shop near the incident site, where some Muslim youths often gather and misbehave with Hindu girls from the area. Due to fear of social stigma, most incidents go unreported, which emboldens these youths. Meanwhile, as soon as the news spread, a large number of people from the Hindu community gathered and began protesting outside the house of the accused youth. The situation remained tense and chaotic for about three hours. Upon receiving information about the incident, the police team from Manjhaul police station and the 112 emergency team reached the spot and brought the situation under control. At the time of writing this report, the victim was still very frightened and was hesitant to file a formal complaint. The Manjhaul police station in-charge, Ravindra Kumar, said that if the victim submits a written application, legal action will be taken against the accused. Since the incident, there has been anger among the villagers. They said that some youths from the Muslim community in the village repeatedly misbehave with Hindu girls, and the police have not taken any concrete action so far. The villagers demanded strict action against such elements to ensure the safety of their daughters.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category of - Crimes against women in relationships and other sexual crimes. Within it, the sub-category selected is - Brainwashed and/or groomed, with the tertiary categories being - Rape and sexual assault/harassment and Pattern of targeting Hindu minors. In our database, we have not added incidents where women have converted to another religion of their free will and no allegations of forced/involuntary conversion have been made. However, there are certain cases of conversion where the consent itself is a result of the brainwashing or grooming of a minor by the non-Hindu perpetrator trying to victimise a woman for her Hindu religious identity. The phenomenon of grooming points to non-Hindu perpetrators identifying their Hindu victims’ vulnerabilities and exploiting them over months and sometimes years, to extract the supposed ‘consent’ in order to convert their religion. In most cases of grooming, the victims are minors or the grooming started when the victim was a minor. In other cases of grooming, the non-Hindu perpetrator brainwashes and grooms a minor victim to extract their trust and then proceeds to rape them repeatedly with the intent of converting them to their faith. It is pertinent to understand here that when the victim is a minor, the ‘consent’ to convert or enter into a romantic relationship with an adult itself is redundant – addressed by POCSO. While every case of conversion of a minor and incidents of establishing a physical relationship with a minor by an adult is a crime, for the purpose of this database, a case would be considered a hate crime only if there is a distinct religious angle to the grooming. For example, in the UK, if a Hindu minor is targeted by Pakistani grooming gangs, it would be considered a hate crime because the victims are specifically targeted owing to their non-Muslim religious identity with the perpetrators being Muslim. In other cases, if a Hindu minor is brainwashed into entering a physical relationship with the non-Hindu adult perpetrator and the family alleges grooming/brainwashing of the minor to convert her religion, it would form a part of this database. If the victim is a Hindu adult, the case would form a part of this database only if the victim herself says that she was brainwashed/groomed to convert her religion. However, if the victim is deceased (murdered or otherwise), the case would form a part of this database if her family/friends provided testimony that the victim was brainwashed/groomed to convert her religion. Since these crimes have a distinct religious angle where the victim is being targeted owing to her Hindu religious identity, these cases are considered a hate crime. The other primary category selected is - Attack not resulting in death. 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 other sub-category selected is - Attacked for opposing radicals or trying to save victim. In several cases, Hindus are attacked for opposing religiously motivated crimes being committed against a fellow Hindu or simply for voicing an opinion opposing radical elements, who either have in the past or continue to persecute Hindus. In such cases, the initial attack against the victim, against which the Hindu was trying to defend the victim, would also need to be classified as a religiously motivated hate crime. Since the initial crime itself was religiously motivated and the subsequent crime of attempting to save the victim or speaking against the radical elements ends up inviting a violent attack, it would also be classified as a religiously motivated hate crime under this category. This incident involves the harassment of a minor Hindu girl by two Muslim youths, who not only used obscene language but repeatedly targeted and assaulted her, even attempting to physically pull her clothing. Locals have reported that similar behaviour has been observed previously, where Muslim youths gather near the school area and misbehave with Hindu girls specifically. This indicates religious profiling and a broader trend of targeting Hindu minors. When children face such trauma because of their faith, it’s more than just a crime. It is communal hatred directed at the most vulnerable, making it a deeply personal and painful form of religiously motivated violence. More importantly, when the victim is a minor, her ability to give any form of "consent" becomes legally and ethically void. Therefore, even in the absence of an established romantic relationship, such sustained, targeted harassment of Hindu minors by non-Hindu perpetrators indicates grooming based on religious identity and is recorded here as a hate crime. Further, when the girl and her brother resisted the harassment and objected to the obscene behaviour, both were assaulted by the perpetrators. The girl, visibly Hindu and in uniform, and her brother were not involved in any prior provocation or altercation. This makes it an unprovoked assault targeting individuals identifiable as Hindus, especially since the attack followed an incident where the perpetrators had already harassed the girl. Such instances reflect an underlying animosity directed at the victims based on their religious identity, and such assaults must be seen through the lens of religious supremacy or hostility, even if they occur under the guise of a "personal dispute." Given the lack of provocation and the identity of the victims as Hindus, this assault can be classified as a hate crime motivated by the victims’ religious background. The brother of the minor girl was also attacked — not randomly, but because he was accompanying her and intervened when she was being harassed. This is a clear case of a Hindu man being attacked for standing up against radical, predatory behaviour directed at a Hindu girl. His attempt to defend his sister was met with violence, showing that even efforts to protect victims of religiously motivated abuse provoke further aggression. Such retaliatory violence reinforces the climate of fear and impunity around these acts and is part of a larger pattern of silencing or punishing those who oppose religiously motivated abuse, making this a religiously motivated hate crime. This incident, viewed in full, is not an isolated case of harassment but part of a pattern of religiously motivated targeting of Hindu girls and intimidation of those who resist. The victim's young age, Hindu identity, and the communal pattern of such incidents strongly establish this as a religious hate crime under the chosen categories.
Victim Details
Total Victim
2
Deceased
0
Gender
- Male 1
- Female 1
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 0
Caste
- SC/ST 0
- OBC 0
- General 0
- Unknown 2
Age Group
- Minor 1
- Adult 0
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 1
Case Status
Complaint not filed
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 2 To 5
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
