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Data shows 23 deaths involving state security forces and 27 linked to Hindu extremist violence

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At least 50 Muslims were killed in alleged extrajudicial incidents across India in 2025, including 23 deaths involving state security personnel and 27 attributed to violence by Hindu extremists, according to data released by advocacy group South Asia Justice Campaign (SAJC).

The findings are based on SAJC’s India Persecution Tracker, which documents incidents involving police, armed forces and non-state actors. The group said two children were among those killed in incidents involving state authorities during the year.

The Tracker also recorded two cases in which Muslims died by suicide following alleged harassment or violence by Hindu extremist groups, and documented incidents of arbitrary arrest, expulsions and forced returns involving Bengali-speaking Muslims.

According to the report, Jammu and Kashmir recorded the highest number of such killings, with at least eight Muslim civilians killed during security operations. SAJC said these incidents were marked by allegations of custodial torture, enforced disappearances and staged encounters, claims that authorities have previously denied.

In Uttar Pradesh, at least six Muslims were killed in what police described as encounter shootings, the group said, adding that dozens more were injured in similar incidents. Five additional deaths were reported in police custody or shortly after detention across four other states, with families alleging torture and denial of medical treatment.

The report cited the death of a one-and-a-half-month-old infant during a police raid in Rajasthan in March and the killing of a 14-year-old boy by an off-duty Central Industrial Security Force constable at a wedding procession in Delhi in November.

Of the 27 deaths attributed to Hindu extremists, SAJC said nine involved alleged attacks by cow vigilante groups. At least five victims were killed after being accused by assailants of being Bangladeshi nationals or illegal immigrants, the report said.

The data also noted that Indigenous Adivasi communities, particularly in Chhattisgarh, were heavily affected by counterinsurgency operations, with security forces reporting the killing of more than 275 Maoists during the year. Rights groups have previously alleged that some of those killed were civilians, a claim authorities dispute.

SAJC reported at least 26 episodes of targeted mass violence against Muslims across 13 states in 2025, alongside hundreds of individual assaults and non-fatal hate crimes.

The group said the number of reported extrajudicial killings of Muslims by state actors has risen from 20 in 2023 to 21 in 2024.

“As India enters 2026, the routinisation of persecution against religious minorities has become increasingly visible,” the report said, warning of heightened risks amid upcoming state elections.