In another alleged attack on a minority community member in Bangladesh, a 25-year-old Hindu woman — mother of a three-year-old girl — was reportedly gang-raped by at least three men while returning from a kirtan ceremony in the Tazumuddin sub-district of Bhola district on 22 February. Five days on, she remains in serious condition at a government hospital, where she was referred for advanced treatment.
Local community leaders told The Daily Guardian that the woman, a housewife and daughter of a farm labourer, had attended a Tirodhan kirtan in the Daspara area of Shashiganj village that afternoon. The event was organised by followers of a local seer known as ‘Anil Babaji’ in nearby Aralia village. According to Khoken Deb, a community leader from Chandpur, one of the accused — identified as e-rickshaw driver Mohammad Russell — allegedly offered her a lift home but instead diverted the vehicle. “Two other men, Rakib and Shakeel, joined him. They took her to a betel nut garden, where they allegedly raped and tortured her through the night,” Deb said.
Bangladeshi media reports claimed she was forcibly fed sedatives and lost consciousness. She was found the next morning by a local resident, Farooq, when villagers were returning from early prayers at a mosque in Shashiganj Daspara. With the help of a businessman, Swapan Das, she was taken to a local hospital and later shifted to a higher medical centre due to the severity of her injuries.
The Officer-in-Charge of Tazumuddin police station, Abdus Salam, was quoted as saying that blood-stained clothes were recovered.
The woman’s father said the family is financially distressed and appealed for assistance with her treatment. Gurango Chandra of the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council said community leaders are extending support, as the family cannot afford medical expenses. “These kirtans were part of a mass celebration held across the country on 22 February. The family is in deep shock,” he said.
Chandra also drew parallels with the violence against Hindus in Bangladesh following the Babri Masjid demolition in Uttar Pradesh in 1992, when temples, homes and shops were attacked, and several people were killed or assaulted.
