Hindu youths beaten up by Muslim mob over a dispute involving a dog

Case ID : f6649b1 | Location : Bilari, Uttar Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Sun, 23 March, 2025

Case ID : f6649b1

Bilari, Uttar Pradesh, India

23 March, 2025

Hindu youths beaten up by Muslim mob over a dispute involving a dog

Attack not resulting in death

Communal clash/attack

Attacked for Hindu identity

Case Summary

A Hindu man, Vinod Kashyap, and his nephew, Vikas, were brutally assaulted in Bahadurpur Village, Bilari, Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, following a dispute involving a pet dog. The incident, which occurred on the night of March 25, 2025, left six people injured and led to the filing of a case against 16 named individuals and four unidentified persons. The conflict began when Vinod Kashyap’s dog wandered near the village mosque and was beaten away by Eshan, son of Aslam. Although villagers initially helped diffuse tensions, the situation escalated later that night. At around 9:30 PM, after prayers at the mosque, a group armed with sticks gathered near Vinod’s house and began hurling verbal abuse. When Vinod objected, Aslam and Sharif reportedly directed Eshan and Rafiq to strangle him. As the altercation worsened, Vinod and his nephew Vikas were violently attacked with sticks and rods. Attempting to escape, they sought shelter in a nearby shop, but the attackers pursued them, continuing the assault and vandalising the shop. The commotion drew the attention of other villagers, who intervened, prompting the assailants to flee after issuing further threats. In the aftermath, Vinod Kashyap filed a formal complaint, leading to the registration of a case under multiple criminal charges. The police acted swiftly, arresting four primary suspects—Aslam, Eshan, Rashid, and Rafiq—who were later presented in court and sent to jail. To prevent further unrest, security was heightened in the village, particularly around the local temple. Despite the violence, efforts were made to maintain peace. The Gram Panchayat head, Majid Hussain Ansari, assured that discussions were ongoing to resolve tensions. While some local elders framed the dispute as one between the Kashyap and Malik communities rather than a broader communal clash, the fact that the attack was directed at Vinod and his family after a minor altercation raises concerns about targeted violence. Law enforcement officials, including the CO, assured that a fair investigation was underway. Raids were conducted to apprehend the remaining accused, and preventive measures were put in place to uphold law and order in the village.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been included in the Hate Crime database under the prime category of- Attack not resulting in death, Under this, the first 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 under which this case has been placed 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 categorised as a religiously motivated hate crime against Hindus due to the targeted nature of the violence against Vinod Kashyap and his nephew. What initially began as a minor altercation over a pet dog was later escalated into a brutal attack on Hindu individuals. The fact that the assault occurred after a gathering outside the mosque, where abusive language was used before the attack, suggests that the perpetrators singled out Vinod Kashyap and his family based on their religious identity. Furthermore, the level of organised aggression—including the use of sticks, rods, and an attempt to strangle the victim—demonstrates a premeditated effort to inflict harm. The attackers not only physically assaulted Vinod and his nephew but also pursued them into a shop, continued the violence, and vandalised property, indicating a desire to instill fear and assert dominance. Additionally, threats were issued before the assailants fled, further reinforcing the communal nature of the crime. The need to enhance security around the village temple following the violence further underscores the underlying communal tensions in the area. Such indiscriminate targeting of Hindus based on their religious identity demonstrates that the perpetrators did not just retaliate against specific individuals but extended their violence to the entire Hindu community in the vicinity. This escalation from a minor scuffle to a large-scale communal attack underscores the pre-existing animosity and intolerance that fuelled the assault. The deliberate and selective nature of the violence against Hindus makes it clear that this was not merely an instance of minor dispute but a religiously motivated hate crime. For these reasons, this case has been added to the tracker.