Hindu Woman Raped, Harassed in Bangladesh
NEW DELHI, Jan 5: A 40-year-old Hindu widow has allegedly been gang-raped by two men who also tied her to a tree and cut off her hair in central Bangladesh’s Kaliganj, a sub-district of Jhenaidah.
In her police complaint, the woman said she purchased three decimals of land along with a two-storey house for 2 million taka from one Shahin and his brother in Ward No. 7 of Kaliganj municipality two-and-a-half years ago, according to local media reports. After that, Shahin began making indecent proposals to her and harassing her when she refused.
On Saturday evening, when two relatives from the widow’s village were visiting, Shahin and his associate Hasan stormed in and raped her. They then demanded 50,000 taka (around Rs 37,000) from her. When she refused to give them money, they allegedly assaulted the relatives and drove them away. After the woman began screaming, they tied her to a tree, cut off her hair, recorded the act, and circulated the video on social media.
They also tortured the widow and she then lost consciousness. Local residents rescued her and admitted her to the Jhenaidah Sadar Hospital. Dr Md Mostafizur Rahman, superintendent of the hospital, said the woman did not initially tell doctors what had happened. Later, through medical examination, they learnt that she had been subjected to abuse.
The woman then filed a complaint at Kaliganj Police Station, naming Shahin and Hasan. Jhenaidah Additional Superintendent of Police Billal Hossain said, “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 woman was raped the day a Hindu man, Khokon Chandra Das, died after being attacked and set ablaze by a mob in the Shariatpur district of Bangladesh. Das had managed to escape after jumping into a pond and died of his injuries on Saturday.
On December 24, Amrit Mondal, another Hindu youth, was allegedly lynched by a mob in Kalimohar Union in Bangladesh. The Muhammad Yunus-led interim government in Bangladesh condemned the killing but claimed that Mondal was an extortionist and there was no communal angle to his murder.
Dipu Chandra Das, 25, was also lynched by a mob on December 18 after being falsely accused of blasphemy. His body was also hung from a tree and set on fire. India has raised concern about what it has called the “unremitting hostility” against minorities under the Yunus government in Bangladesh, and asserted it was keeping a close watch on the developments in its neighbourhood.
(Manas Dasgupta)
