Bangladesh Hindu widow gang-raped, tied to a tree: What do we know so far?

Yet another atrocity against Hindus has come to light in Bangladesh. This time, a Hindu widow has been gang-raped and tied to a tree.

The development comes in the aftermath of Dipu Chandra Das, a Hindu garment factory worker, being lynched after accusations of blasphemy on December 18. Another Hindu man, 29-year-old Amrit Mondal, was beaten to death by a mob.

Bangladesh has been witnessing widespread unrest since the death of Sharif Osman Hadi in December. Hadi, a prominent political activist and youth leader associated with Inqilab Mancha — a political platform that played a major role in the 2024 uprising that led to the ouster of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina — was set to contest February polls in Bangladesh when he was shot in broad daylight. Hadi later succumbed to his injuries at a hospital in Singapore.

Relations between India and Bangladesh have come under strain after the interim government headed by Yunus came to power following the collapse of the Hasina government.

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But what happened in this case?

Let’s take a closer look.

What we know

According to reports, the survivor is a 40-year-old widow.

The incident occurred in Kaliganj, which is in Jhenaidah in south-western Bangladesh. According to the reports, the accused tied the woman to a tree, forcibly cut off her hair and gang-raped her. The accused are said to have recorded the act.

As per NDTV, the survivor in her complaint alleged that she bought three decimals of land along with a two-storey house for Rs 14.8 lakh from one Shahin and his brother in Kaliganj’s Ward No. 7 of Kaliganj municipality around two and a half years ago.

After that, Shahin kept propositioning her. However, when she refused his advances, he began harassing her. Then, on Saturday evening, Shahin and his associate Hassan arrived at her home. At the time, two relatives from her village were present. They first demanded around Rs 37,000 from her. However, when she refused to pay up, the men assaulted the relatives.

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They then tied her to a tree, cut off her hair and sexually assaulted her while filming the video, which they circulated on social media. They tortured her till she lost consciousness. She was later rescued by locals and taken to the Jhenaidah Sadar Hospital.

Hospital Superintendent Dr Md Mostafizur Rahman said the woman did not tell the doctors what had taken place. However, they determined that she had been subjected to abuse after a medical examination. The woman then filed a complaint against Shahin and Hassan at Kaliganj Police Station.

NDTV quoted Billal Hossain, Jhenaidah Additional Superintendent of Police, as saying, “We have called the survivor to the police station and recorded her complaint. After investigation, the police will take the highest possible legal action.”

The interim Muhammad Yunus government has not yet commented on the incident. The government, while condemning Mondal’s death, said he was an accused in several serious cases, including murder and extortion, and that the incident was not a communal attack.

‘Grave concern’

The gang-rape occurred on December 30 – the same day that another man, Khokon Chandra Das, died after being attacked and set ablaze by a mob in a Bangladesh district. Das, 50, was on his way home after being assailed by a mob. Das was beaten up, stabbed in the lower abdomen and set ablaze after being doused with petrol.

India has said that the “unremitting hostilities” against minorities in Bangladesh are a matter of “grave concern”. New Delhi has demanded punishment for the perpetrators involved in the lynching of Das and justice for all the victims.

External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, “The unremitting hostilities against the minorities in Bangladesh, including Hindus, Christians and Buddhists, at the hands of extremists, is a matter of grave concern.”

“We condemn the recent gruesome killing of a Hindu youth in Bangladesh and expect that the perpetrators of the crime would be brought to justice. Over 2,900 incidents of violence against minorities, including cases of killings, arson and land grab, have been documented by independent sources during the tenure of the interim government. These incidents cannot be brushed aside as mere media exaggeration or dismissed as political violence,” he added.

With inputs from agencies