In another incident of violence against minorities, a young Hindu man was shot dead in public on Monday evening in Bangladesh’s Jashore district, triggering panic in the area.
This marks the fifth incident involving the killing of a Hindu in the country in less than a month. The shooting took place at around 5:45 pm at Kopalia Bazar in Ward No. 17 of Manirampur upazila. The man has been identified as Rana Pratap Bairagi. Bairagi was 45 years old.
He was a factory owner and also served as the acting editor of a newspaper. Reportedly, unidentified assailants opened fire on Pratap while he was at the market. He sustained multiple bullet injuries and died on the spot.
Following the shooting, fear and panic gripped the area. Police personnel from Manirampur Police Station rushed to the scene and brought the law-and-order situation under control.
An investigation has been launched to identify and arrest those involved in the incident. The incident comes amid a series of violent attacks on minorities in Bangladesh in recent weeks. India has expressed concern over what it described as continued hostility towards minorities, while the Bangladesh government has reiterated its commitment to their protection.
Hindu Woman Gang Raped
Earlier on Saturday, a 40-year-old Hindu woman was allegedly gang-raped, tied to a tree and had her hair forcibly cut off by two men in Kaliganj, a sub-district of Jhenaidah in central Bangladesh, police said.
According to her complaint, the survivor had bought three decimals of land along with a two-storey house for 20 lakh taka from a man identified as Shahin and his brother about two-and-a-half years ago. Local media reported that following the purchase, Shahin allegedly began harassing the woman and making indecent advances, which she repeatedly rejected.
On Saturday evening, while two relatives from her village were visiting, Shahin and his associate Hasan allegedly entered her house and sexually assaulted her. The accused later demanded 50,000 taka from the woman. When she refused, they allegedly attacked her relatives and forced them to leave.
Police said the men then tied the woman to a tree, cut off her hair, recorded the act and circulated the video on social media. The survivor was reportedly tortured further and lost consciousness before being rescued by local residents and taken to Jhenaidah Sadar Hospital.
