Pune fuel station owner Kavya Ladkat stood by her staff’s Christmas celebration, refusing to bow to threats from a group objecting to red Santa caps and asserting secular values.
Ladkat also filed a police complaint against a group of men who disrupted celebration at her workplace.
Civil society groups praised Ladkat for her courageous act against religious hooliganism.
On Christmas Day, December 25, 2025, what began as a routine celebration for Kavya Ladkat, 51, and her staff at Ladkat Brothers Service Station in Pune took an unsettling turn. As they do every year, employees wore red Santa caps at work, but this time a group of men confronted them, demanding the caps be removed and insisting that only “Hindu traditions” be followed.
The video of confrontations between Kavya Ladkat and men who threatened them to not celebrate Christmas, went viral on social media. In those videos (verified by Outlook), Kavya can be seen opposing hooliganism by a group of men. She highlighted that ‘Ladkat Brothers service station has celebrated all festivals for years. It respects every religion with equality and nobody can and should object to their Christmas celebrations in any way.'
Ladkat opposed the removal of red caps by her staff, asserting her right to celebrate the festival. Her support staff didn’t take off red caps. The act is now being widely appreciated by the civil society members.
In India, minority Christian groups and street vendors selling Christmas decor were attacked by the Hindu right wing groups such as Bajrang dal. Such incidents took place in Assam, Chattisgarh, Odisha where Christmas decorations, cribs, and small street shops were vandalised. Police arrested four accused persons in Assam.
On December 25, 2025, the group of men, one claiming his association with the Bajrang Dal, confronted the employees at the Ladkat fuel station in Bhawani Peth area of Pune. A man from the group, according to the verified video, asked Kavya Ladkat - to 'go to Bangladesh', and confronted her whether she ever have had taken any stand regarding the atrocities on Hindus in Bangladesh. The group also threatened to call the police if their 'demands' were not met. A man was seen in video threatening to follow the ‘Hindu traditions & customs.’
Kavya Ladkat was watching the incident through CCTV footage from her cabin. She stepped out in support of her staff and started recording the video of an entire confrontation with the group of men. She later, on the same day filed a police complaint at Khadak Police station in Pune against the group of men, who threatened her and employees.
“I celebrate all festivals with my employees every year. This was the first time, when a group of men selectively objected to our Christmas celebration. A man who first entered our station to refuel his bike, asked my staff to take off caps. One of my women staff members opposed it. He then threatened to boycott our fuel station. We didn’t succumb to his pressure tactics and respected his decision of not buying fuel from our station, even then the matter escalated with threats and they called a few other men from their group to my workspace. I recorded everything with my phone camera and filed a police complaint.” Ladkat told Outlook over a phone interview.
She was not communicated by the Pune police regarding action taken against the accused men till December 28. She went to the police station and spent 2-3 hours lodging a formal complaint with her already injured leg.
Ladkat is a single woman, handling all the operations of the fuel station for the past 11 years. The fuel station was started in 1967, owned by her father in law, later by her husband and now by Kavya Ladkat after her husband’s death.
“Every profession is challenging for single women in many ways. Operating a fuel station - a space mostly dominated by men - is certainly more challenging, but I am fearless because I believe in my values and practices. This gives me the strength to speak up, for myself and my staff.” says Ladkat.
Had she not shown courage, it would have set a wrong precedent by empowering people who believe in disrupting peace and harmony in public space, according to her.
Civil society members Anjum Inamdar of Mulsim Moolnivasi Manch, Michal Sathe, Tamanna Inamdar, Ibrahim khan met Kavya and staff at her fuel station and congratulated her. These activists also gave her a letter of support and solidarity.
