On Saturday (10th January) night, a Muslim man identified as Altaf barged into the premises of the Katta Maisamma Temple in Telangana’s Hyderabad and defecated near the idol of the deity.
The incident sparked outrage among the Hindu community after the video of the temple desecration went viral on social media.
After the accused was apprehended and handed over to the police, the 26-year-old Muslim man was dubbed ‘mentally unsound’ by the law enforcement authorities of the Congress-ruled State.
A Muslim boy was caught urinating infront of Devi temple in Malkajgiri, Hyderabad.
— Sarvagraharoopini 🚩 (@GurorangriPadme) January 10, 2026
No Hindu engages in such disgraceful acts because Hinduism does not believe in the destruction or humiliation of non-Hindus.
The hostility displayed toward the majority reflects the constant… pic.twitter.com/NTFXux3tqG
This is not a new phenomenon. Whenever an accused belonging to the Muslim community defiles a Hindu place of worship, he is quickly branded ‘mentally unsound’ or ‘mentally unstable’ either by the police force of a minority-appeasing government or by a concerted group of intellectuals online.
In this way, the accused, by virtue of his faith, gets a clean chit and the motivated religious hatred against other communities is conveniently whitewashed.
But this begs the question – Why does a ‘mentally unsound’ Muslim man rarely desecrate a mosque or a dargah? How does he automatically know about committing blasphemous acts against idol worshippers?
A series of incidents in which mentally unstable Muslim men have desecrated Hindu idols and temples
On Friday (9th January), a 55 year-old Ahmed Sheikh was taken into custody after he attempted to offer Namaz inside the sacred Ram temple.
According to reports, he barged into the high security premises and began preparing to desecrate the holy site. He was soon apprehended and handed over to the place.
After being caught, he reportedly raised Islamic slogans inside the Ram Mandir complex. Later, his family claimed that he was ‘mentally ill’.
In March 2025, a Muslim man named Sheikh Indu vandalised the idol of Goddess Shitala and then set it on fire. The incident occurred in Baruipur city in the South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal.
Visuals of charred idols and the damaged Hindu temple could be seen in multiple posts on social media. The locals were able to apprehend the accused, Sheikh Indu, who was involved in the vandalism and arson attack.
The Baruipur police posted a tweet claiming that the accused is a ‘person of unsound mind’ with ‘mental health issues.’
“Local people apprehended him and police took custody of the person. A case has been registered and investigation is on. The detained person is an outsider and has mental health issues,” it alleged.
A few days later, BJP leader Dilip Ghosh took to X (formerly Twitter) to inform about the attack on a Kali temple and the vandalism of the idol of the Hindu deity.
The incident occurred in Shankchura Bazar in Basirhat city in the North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal. The BJP leader stated that the attack on the temple took place under the leadership of local TMC politician Shahanoor Mondal.
Hours later, the West Bengal Police took to social media to claim that there was ‘no communal angle’ behind the heinous crime.
The cops went on to claim that the extremist behind the vandalism of the idol of Goddess Kali has ‘mental health issues.’
In November 2023, a Muslim man named Ara Sheikh was caught on camera, in which he can be seen entering a Hindu temple and urinating near the Shivling. The incident occurred in Kandar village in Murshidabad district of West Bengal.
The video of his shameful act left the internet fuming and sparked massive outrage, with the Hindu community demanding strict action against the perpetrator.
In September 2022, 2 Muslim women vandalised an idol of Goddess Durga using a spanner in Hyderabad’s Khairatabad area. Before this, they also attempted to destroy the idol of Mother Mary outside a church. As expected, these women were also dubbed ‘mentally unstable’.
When the two women were vandalising the idols, a Hindu man tried to stop them. These women then attacked and injured him. Later, the locals caught hold of them and handed them over to the police.
DCP (Central Zone) stated, “These two women live with their parents. They are mentally ill. They returned from Jeddah in 2018 and have been facing it ever since. They also have a brother who lives together.”
I've not met my sisters yet but I've heard what happened so I've come down. My mother&sisters have schizophrenia&brother has paranoid schizophrenia. They've never done that. I'm very sorry. They're getting treatment at a hospital. So,I've to continue looking into this: Asimduddin pic.twitter.com/VnKofejaMV
— ANI (@ANI) September 27, 2022
The brother of the accused women, Aseemuddin, claimed, “My mother and sisters have schizophrenia, and my brother has paranoid schizophrenia.”
Around the same time, a Muslim man identified as Rameez Ahmed broke into a Hindu temple in Ranchi and vandalised the idol of Lord Hanuman. The local Hindu community learnt about the incident only on the following morning.
Ahmed was identified only after analysing the CCTV footage. After he was arrested, the police claimed that the accused was ‘mentally unstable’.
In April 2022, a Muslim man named Ahmed Murtaza Abbasi laid siege to the Goraknath temple in Uttar Pradesh. Armed with a sharp knife, he screamed Allah hu Akbar before attempting to barge into the temple premises.
When the police deployed at the Hindu place of worship attempted to stop him, he severely injured 2 personnel using his weapon.
It was later revealed that Abbasi had taken an oath of allegiance to the ISIS. He used to read online articles, watch videos related to weapons such as AK-47 rifle, M4 Carbine, missile technology etc with the intention to carry out terror attacks.
L- Murtaza Ahmed Abbasi attacked PAC Jawans at Gorakhnath Temple.
— KarmicThrust (@karmicthrust) June 21, 2023
He did Chemical Engineering from IIT Mumbai.
Has links with ISIS
R- His father claims he is mentally ill since childhood 🤔 pic.twitter.com/2QVzaEsnsE
It had also come to light that he was involved with th terrorist organisation since 2013 and wanted to commit Jihad against Kafirs. However, Abbasi too was labelled as ‘mentally unstable’ by his family and Muslim appeasers alike.
They highlighted his academic credentials to downplay the severity of the attack on the Gorakhnath temple. However, a doctor later confirmed that the terrorist was mentally fit.
In May 2018, a Muslim man named Sonu Khan vandalised idol of Lord Hanuman and Goddess Durga placed inside a temple. The incident occured in the Shahganj region of Agra in Uttar Pradesh. It was reported how the accused carried out vandalism to instigate communal tension.
After Khan was handed over to the police, it was reported that the accused was ‘mentally challenged.’
In 2016, a Muslim man named Yasir barged into a Hindu temple in Jammu, pelted stones at the windowpanes, and attempted to damage the idol of the Hindu deity. Several media outlets downplayed the incident by labelling the accused ‘mentally disturbed’.
Conclusion
It is therefore hardly surprising that the ‘mentally unstable’ trope is being used to defend Altaf, the Muslim perpetrator who defecated inside the premises of the Hindu temple.
And often, no evidence is required to support such claims with the extensive media coverage in favour of the accused. The media, police and government alike are ready to peddle excuses for Jihadis and their dreams of world dominion.
It is a rather convenient excuse to say that the Jihadi was mentally unstable, as if he was turned into a radical Jihadi without his explicit consent. The aim of peddling such nonsense is often rather simple, so simple in fact, that it almost escapes our attention.
The moment you say that a man was mentally unstable, the immediate assumption of the public is that he was lured and deceived into becoming a Jihadi – that he is actually not a dangerous man, but a misguided one.
The Telangana government wants us to dismiss the Hyderabad temple desecration case as just another mentally unstable, educated boy indulging in some ill-advised conduct, but the truth is far from it.
Altaf seems to be our very own Jihadi John, just like the several hundred we document daily.
