On 3 January, a 40-year-old Hindu widow was gang raped, tied to a tree, and had her hair forcibly cut by two men in Jhenaidah district’s Kaliganj area in Bangladesh. The attackers made a video of the act and circulated it on social media. The incident is one of many attacks that have occurred in Bangladesh on Hindus as the country’s Islamist leaning interim administration remains silent.
According to media reports, the victim filed a complaint with the police in which she identified the accused as Shahin and Hasan. Both are local residents of Kaliganj. The incident took place in the Nadipara locality.
Assault, extortion, and public humiliation
According to the victim’s statement, she had purchased three decimals of land along with a two storey house for around 20 lakh taka from Shahin and his brother around 2.5 years ago. Since then, Shahin had been making repeated indecent advances towards her. When she refused, the harassment escalated.
Bangladesh 🇧🇩 : Hindu widow gang-raped , burnt with cigarette , tied to a tree , hair cut off by her neighbour Hasan & Shahin .
— 🇧🇩🕉️News (@SanataniHinduBD) January 5, 2026
Location 📍 Kaliganj , Nodipara , Jhinaidaha , Khulna . pic.twitter.com/P1CARE12OZ
On the day of the incident, two of her relatives were visiting her home. Shahin and Hasan barged in and raped her. They then demanded 50,000 taka in cash. When she refused, the accused assaulted the relatives and forced them out of the house.
When the woman screamed for help, they tied her to a tree and cut off her hair. They recorded the ordeal and circulated it online. The torture left the survivor unconscious.
Medical findings and police response
Later, local residents rescued the woman and admitted her to Jhenaidah Sadar Hospital. The superintendent of the hospital, Dr Md Mostafizur Rahman, said the victim initially did not disclose details of the assault. However, the medical examination confirmed that she had been subjected to severe abuse.
A formal complaint was filed by the victim at Kaliganj Police Station in which she named both Shahin and Hasan. Jhenaidah Additional Superintendent of Police Billal Hossain said that her statement had been recorded and assured that strict legal action would follow after investigation.
Part of a wider pattern of minority violence
On the day when the gang rape occurred, a Hindu man, Khokon Chandra Das, was murdered. He was attacked and set ablaze by a mob in Shariatpur district. In recent weeks, multiple lynchings of Hindu men, including Dipu Chandra Das and Amrit Mondal, have been reported across Bangladesh.
India has raised concerns over what it described as unremitting hostility towards minorities under the Muhammad Yunus led interim government. On the other hand, Dhaka has claimed that it is committed to minority protection. However, repeated incidents of rape, lynching, and public humiliation of Hindus have exposed the false promises made by the Yunus led interim government.
