Hindu youth attacked by group of Muslim men for helping a Muslim colleague

Case ID : ef6561d | Location : Gulbarga, Karnataka, India | Date of Incident : Wed, 25 June, 2025

Case ID : ef6561d

Gulbarga, Karnataka, India

25 June, 2025

Hindu youth attacked by group of Muslim men for helping a Muslim colleague

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 Kalaburagi, Karnataka, a Hindu youth named Bylappa was brutally assaulted by a group of Muslim men after he gave a ride to a Muslim woman colleague. The incident occurred in the Santraswadi area of the city, where a Hindu man named Bylappa was stopped and attacked by a group of about 15 Muslim men. He was attacked because he was seen in the company of a Muslim woman. The Muslim woman asked Bylappa, as they were colleagues, to drop her somewhere as she had urgent work, and he agreed to help her. This act was met with hostility by the Muslim men, who blocked his path and violently attacked him. As of the date of writing this report, six of the fifteen accused were arrested by the police. Those arrested were: - Mohammed Salman, Mohammed Adil, Mohammed Rehan, Mohammed Uzair, Mohammed Faiz, and Mohammed Asif.

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 has been added to the tracker because a Hindu man was attacked by a group of Muslim men, solely because he offered a lift to his female colleague, who happened to be a Muslim. The perpetrators deliberately targeted Bylappa, who had committed no wrongdoing, exposing the deep-rooted hostility directed at him because of his Hindu identity. The incident reflects a disturbing pattern where normal, civil interactions between Hindu men and Muslim women are criminalised by Muslim mobs motivated by sectarian hate. This was not an isolated outburst but a targeted act driven by a deeply ingrained hostility toward the Hindu identity of the boy. The attack was deliberate, unprovoked, and carried out with the intent to publicly enforce a discriminatory belief system that denies Hindu men the right to freely associate with Muslim women. The attack was aimed at sending a broader message: that Hindu men will face violence and public humiliation if seen in the company of Muslim women, irrespective of the context. The justification for such attacks 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 punish a Hindu youth simply for interacting with a Muslim woman. This case, therefore, is not merely about interpersonal conflict; it is emblematic of a hate-driven campaign seeking to police the social behaviour of Muslim women and punish Hindu men for any perceived transgression. The violence inflicted on Bylappa is indicative of collective religious intolerance and ideological hostility that Muslims have towards the Hindu community. The targeted nature of the crime, the brutality inflicted, and the ideological justification through an anti-Hindu conspiracy theory make this a clear-cut case of a hate crime, warranting inclusion in the Hinduphobia Tracker.