Minor Hindu girl repeatedly raped over prolonged period by Muslim man in Manikganj amidst ongoing anti-Hindu persecution in Bangladesh

Case ID : 30a7c0c | Location : Manikganj, Dhaka District, Bangladesh | Date of Incident : Fri, 27 March, 2026

Case ID : 30a7c0c

Manikganj, Dhaka District, Bangladesh

27 March, 2026

Minor Hindu girl repeatedly raped over prolonged period by Muslim man in Manikganj amidst ongoing anti-Hindu persecution in Bangladesh

Attack not resulting in death

Attacked for Hindu identity

Case Summary

In the Manikganj district of Dhaka in Bangladesh, a minor Hindu girl was repeatedly raped for a prolonged period by a 68-year-old Muslim man, Mohammad Sakim Uddin. According to media reports, the victim was a ninth-grade student. The accused was a resident of Biswasbari village, a local business owner who operated a sanitary shop near the victim’s home. According to the victim's family, the rape occurred while the victim’s parents were away at work, leaving her vulnerable. The accused used his position in the community and death threats to coerce the teenager into silence. Fearing for her life, the victim did not report the abuse for months, carrying the trauma through her daily life. The victim was later married to a Hindu man. The crime remained hidden until the victim, who was married approximately two months ago, in January 2026, began suffering from health complications at her husband’s residence. Upon returning to her paternal home for medical treatment, a physician’s examination revealed that the victim was seven months pregnant. Confronted with the medical reality, the girl broke down and named Sakim Uddin as her abuser. The victim's father stated, “We were devastated. When we questioned her, she revealed that Sakim Uddin had repeatedly assaulted her by threatening her life. We demand the strictest possible punishment for this heinous act.” The victim's family filed a complaint with the authorities. Law enforcement had officially registered the case under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act, a stringent legal framework designed to handle high-gravity offences against minors. Following this, a targeted raid led by Sub-Inspector Enamul Ali Sardar in the Hangaj area of Saturia resulted in the arrest of the accused on 28 March 2026. “Following the filing of the case, we moved swiftly to arrest the accused,” confirmed Sub-Inspector Sardar. “The legal process was currently underway, and the suspect would be presented before the court to face the full weight of these charges.” A fresh wave of anti-Hindu violence followed the 13th National Parliamentary Election 2026 in Bangladesh, reinforcing a recurring pattern of post-poll violence targeting Hindu minorities. Within days of the announcement of results, Hindu families in districts such as Noakhali, Rangpur, Nilphamari, Sylhet, Thakurgaon, and Dinajpur reported coordinated attacks involving arson, looting, assault, and vandalism of temples and homes. In several instances, Hindu homes were selectively targeted, looted, and families were threatened with displacement. This escalation of violence against Hindus in Bangladesh unfolded in three distinct phases: first, following the ouster of Sheikh Hasina’s government in August 2024; second, after the death of Sharif Osman Bin Hadi in December 2025; and third, in the immediate aftermath of the 13th National Parliamentary Election 2026. This electoral violence unfolded against the broader backdrop of sustained anti-Hindu hostility that had persisted since the ouster of the Sheikh Hasina government in August 2024. During that period, multiple reports documented attacks on Hindu homes, temples, and religious institutions, alongside intimidation campaigns, arson, and mob assaults targeting minority neighbourhoods. The Hinduphobia tracker has recorded 336 such incidents against the Hindu minority, underscoring the scale and persistence of anti-Hindu violence during this period. A further escalation occurred following the death of Sharif Osman Bin Hadi, a Muslim political activist and student leader known for his anti-Hindu and anti-India rhetoric. Hadi had been involved in political unrest after the fall of the Hasina government and was killed in Dhaka on 18 December 2025 during clashes. In the aftermath of his death, Hindu communities were blamed and subsequently targeted in retaliatory violence. Hindu homes were selectively set ablaze in multiple localities, forcing families to flee and leaving many displaced. The attacks appeared patterned rather than sporadic, with Muslim mobs focusing on Hindu neighbourhoods, properties, and religious symbols. Among the victims was Dipu Chandra Das, who was lynched to death and his body was set ablaze by a Muslim mob over false blasphemy allegations. The Hinduphobia tracker documented 51 incidents of anti-Hindu violence in the period following Hadi’s death alone. Such incidents underscore the vulnerability of the Hindu minority amid rising communal hostility and the weaponisation of religious accusations. Reports further indicated that posters and written materials calling for the extermination of Hindus were displayed in public spaces, signalling an alarming normalisation of genocidal rhetoric. When combined with acts of arson, vandalism, assault, and targeted intimidation, these developments suggest a coordinated environment of hostility aimed at terrorising the Hindu community and reinforcing majoritarian dominance.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case is added to the Hinduphobia Tracker under the primary category- Attack not resulting in death. The subcategory selected is- Attacked for Hindu identity. In several cases, Hindus are attacked merely for their Hindu identity without any perceived provocation. A classic example of this category of religiously motivated hate crime is a murder in 2016. 7 ISIS terrorists were convicted for shooting a school principal in Kanpur because they got ‘triggered’ seeing the Kalava on his wrist and tilak that he had put. In this, the Hindu victim had offered no provocation except for his Hindu religious identity. The motivation for the murder was purely religious, driven by religious supremacy. Such cases where Hindus are targeted merely for their religious identity would be documented as a hate crime under this category. In this case, a minor Hindu girl was repeatedly raped for a prolonged period by an elderly Muslim man, Mohammad Sakim Uddin, aged 68, in Manikganj, Bangladesh. In the prevailing environment of anti-Hindu hostility in Bangladesh, this incident aligns with the wider pattern of violence affecting Hindus. While some may argue that the case details do not explicitly state a religious motive, the broader context of anti-Hindu persecution in Bangladesh remains relevant for classification. During periods of sustained violence against Hindus based on religious identity, the Hinduphobia Tracker applies a contextual presumption that attacks on Hindu victims are likely faith-targeted, even when the immediate report does not record a specific religious marker. In such periods, the normalisation of religious hostility and the dehumanisation of minorities can contribute to crimes against them without perpetrators openly stating a motive. For the purpose of documenting the 2024 to 2026 ethnic cleansing of Hindus in Bangladesh and the subsequent persecution after the 13th National Parliamentary Election 2026 and the death of Sharif Osman Hadi, the Hinduphobia Tracker records such incidents as likely religiously motivated at the point of entry. If any case is later established through credible investigation or court findings to stem from motivations other than religious hostility, it will be revised or removed from the hate crime database. In this case, the extreme brutality of the repeated rape and coercion is consistent with the severity observed in other reported attacks on Hindu victims during this period and therefore supports the contextual classification of likely religious hostility, absent contrary evidence. The case is documented as likely involving faith targeting, given the victim’s identity and the surrounding pattern of persecution, while remaining open to revision if new facts emerge. Notably, this attack occurred amidst escalating anti-Hindu violence following Bangladesh's 13th National Parliamentary Election 2026. This included attacks on Hindu homes and temples, rapes of Hindu women, the burning down of Hindu temples, and issuing violent death threats to Hindus, all of which showcase a broader cycle of violence affecting Hindus, reinforcing the contextual presumption applied in this period. Therefore, this case is added to the hate crime database of the Hinduphobia tracker. Disclaimer: The Hinduphobia tracker records the dates of incidents based on when the victim's ordeal begins rather than when it is reported by the media. In this case, media reports have not stated the exact date when the victim's ordeal began. Henceforth, the date when he was arrested, 28 March 2026, is selected as the indicative incident date. This is recorded for documentation purposes only.