Man desecrates Hindu flag in New York village, police launch hate crime probe

A man barged into the property of a Hindu family in New York's Queens Village and ripped down religious flags, discarded them in the garbage and left the family in absolute shock. The New York Police Department (NYPD) is probing the incident as a hate crime. The incident is from April 20 but came to light after the NYPD requested information from public on the intruder.

The Hindu flags are commonly seen in the houses of some families and are part of their puja ceremonies.

The man, who has not been identified so far, walked onto the victim's property twenty minutes before 3 pm on April 20 and removed all the four Hindu flags from the porch of the house.

There was no other harm, reported a US-based website, QNS, citing the police.

Queens Village is a middle-class residential area in the eastern part of New York City's borough of Queens.

NYPD'S HATE CRIME TASK FORCE BEGINS INVESTIGATION

The New York Police Department's (NYPD) Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating the case of criminal mischief in Bellerose during the afternoon of Sunday, April 20.

The NYPD also issued surveillance images of the suspect and described him as having a light complexion and a bald head.

The individual was last seen in sunglasses, a dark jacket, purple tie, and blue pants, with a brown briefcase over his shoulder, along with a multicoloured shirt and a light-coloured coat.

The police also urged the public to share any information regarding this hate crime incident and issued phone numbers on which people can share their inputs.

The police said that the identity of the people who share information will be kept confidential.

Anyone with information about hate crime incident is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline. People can also submit tips by going to the Crime Stoppers website at crimestoppers.nypdonline.org or on X (the platform formerly known as Twitter) @NYPDTips. All calls and messages are confidential.

Indian-American leaders have been raising concerns about the rise in Hinduphobia in the US.

"We see a lot of Hinduphobia," said Shri Thanedar, a Democrat Congressman, at a 2024 meeting of Hindu leaders and organisations, where he called for ways to combat the growing hate crimes against Hindus in the US.