Hindu widow gang-raped in Bangladesh’s Jhenaidah, police yet to make arrests

Dhaka: Incidents of crimes against Hindus in Bangladesh show no sign of stopping. Now, a 40-year-old Hindu woman has been allegedly gang-raped by two men in the Kaliganj sub-division of Jhenaidah district. The perpetrators tied the woman to a tree and cut off her hair. This is the latest incident of crime against Hindus in the past few days. Several Hindus have been murdered recently, with the blame being placed on Bangladeshi extremists. Meanwhile, the government led by Mohammed Yunus is calling it a normal criminal incident.

Forced Entry and Rape

According to local media reports, the woman stated in her police complaint that she had bought a two-story house with three decimal plots of land for 20 lakh taka from Shahin and his brother two and a half years ago in Ward No. 7 of Kaliganj Municipality. Following this, Shahin started making inappropriate advances towards her, and when she refused, he began harassing her. On Saturday evening, when two relatives from the widow's village came to visit her, Shahin and his accomplice Hasan forcibly entered the house and raped her. They then demanded 50,000 taka (approximately 37,000 rupees) from her.

Relatives of the Victim Also Beaten

When she refused to give them the money, they allegedly attacked her relatives and chased them away. When the woman started screaming, they tied her to a tree and cut off her hair. The two accused also recorded a video of the incident and made it go viral on social media. They also tortured the widow until she became unconscious. After the perpetrators left, locals rescued her and admitted her to Jhenaidah Sadar Hospital.

What the police said:

Hospital Superintendent Dr. Mohammad Mustafizur Rahman said that the woman initially did not tell the doctors what had happened. Later, a medical examination revealed that she had been assaulted. Following this, the woman filed a complaint against Shahin and Hasan at Kaliganj Police Station. Jhenaidah Additional Superintendent of Police Bilal Hossain said, "We have called the victim to the police station and recorded her statement. After the investigation, the police will take the strictest possible legal action."