Hindu girl brutally gang-raped in Patuakhali amidst ongoing persecution of Hindu minorities in Bangladesh

Case ID : 30a871c | Location : Patuakhali District, Bangladesh | Date of Incident : Thu, 14 May, 2026

Case ID : 30a871c

Patuakhali District, Bangladesh

14 May, 2026

Hindu girl brutally gang-raped in Patuakhali amidst ongoing persecution of Hindu minorities in Bangladesh

Attack not resulting in death

Attacked for Hindu identity

Case Summary

A Hindu female college student was subjected to a brutal gang-rape inside her home in Kalapara, Patuakhali, Bangladesh, after unidentified masked men secretly dug through the ground beneath the house and entered her room during the night. The Hindu girl had been sleeping alone in a tin shed while her widowed mother and younger brother had gone to a nearby river to collect shrimp for their livelihood. According to reports, the attackers entered the house at around 01:30 am on 15 May 2026 and raped her after threatening her with a sharp weapon. The Hindu girl fought back and screamed for help during the attack. Her relatives rushed towards the house after hearing her cries, forcing the perpetrators to flee the scene. Family members later discovered dug soil beneath the fencing of the house, showing that the attackers had secretly created an entry route before entering the Hindu family’s residence. The incident took place in Chalitabunia village under Champapur Union in Kalapara Upazila of Patuakhali district. The Hindu girl belonged to a financially vulnerable family that had already been struggling after the death of her father around two years earlier. Her mother and younger brother regularly left the house at night for fishing-related work in nearby river areas, leaving the Hindu girl alone inside the house. On the night of 14 May 2026, the Hindu girl had been sleeping alone inside the tin shed house after her mother and younger brother left for the river. At approximately 01:30 am on 15 May 2026, two masked men entered the house after digging through the ground from beneath. The masked perpetrators restrained and sexually assaulted the Hindu girl inside her room. During the assault, they threatened to kill her by holding a sharp object to her throat when she resisted. The Hindu girl struggled against the attackers and managed to scream loudly for help. At one point, she struck one of the perpetrators and opened the window in an attempt to alert nearby relatives. Hearing her screams, relatives from a neighbouring house rushed towards the residence. As family members approached the scene, the masked perpetrators opened the door and escaped from the house. Relatives later searched the surrounding area and found freshly dug soil beneath the fencing of the Hindu family’s property, confirming that the attackers had entered the home through a concealed route created in advance. The Hindu girl was left traumatised and injured after the assault. Her family members immediately informed local residents about the attack. The victim’s aunt stated that she and her husband rushed to the house after hearing the Hindu girl screaming in distress during the night. Upon entering the house, they discovered signs of forced entry and realised that the perpetrators had targeted the Hindu girl while she was isolated and vulnerable inside the home. Following the assault, the Hindu girl was taken for medical examination at Patuakhali Medical College Hospital. Her mother filed a formal complaint regarding the incident at Kalapara Police Station. Police officers visited the scene and collected physical evidence from the house and the surrounding area, including the dug soil beneath the fencing through which the perpetrators entered. Police stated that further legal proceedings were underway in connection with the assault. The Superintendent of Police ordered action in the matter after the incident gained local attention. Complaints were filed against the perpetrators involved in the attack, and investigations continued into the identities of the masked men who entered the Hindu family’s residence during the night. This escalation of violence against Hindus in Bangladesh has 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. Following the ouster of Sheikh Hasina, 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. The third phase of violence was unleashed after the 13th National Parliamentary Election 2026. 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.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case was added to the tracker under the primary category - Attack not resulting in death. The subcategory selected was - 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 Hindu girl from a financially vulnerable family in Kalapara, Patuakhali, Bangladesh, was subjected to a brutal gang-rape-rape by unidentified masked men. In the prevailing environment of anti-Hindu hostility in Bangladesh, this incident aligns with the wider pattern of violence and targeting faced by vulnerable Hindu minorities, particularly Hindu women and girls living in economically insecure conditions. 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 political exile of Sheikh Hasina, the death of Sharif Osman Hadi, and the 13th National Parliamentary Election 2026, 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. The brutality and calculated nature of this assault, in which masked men secretly dug beneath the fencing of a Hindu family’s home to gain entry before sexually assaulting an isolated Hindu girl at knifepoint, mirrors multiple documented attacks on vulnerable Hindus in Bangladesh during this period. The case warrants documentation as probable religious targeting given the victim’s Hindu minority status, the deliberate targeting of a financially vulnerable Hindu household, and the broader pattern of anti-Hindu persecution in Bangladesh, while remaining open to any new evidence that may emerge through investigation. This assault in Kalapara must be viewed within Bangladesh’s documented anti-Hindu environment, where vulnerable Hindu families, particularly women and girls, frequently face intimidation, insecurity and violence while living with limited social protection. The premeditated manner in which the perpetrators created a concealed entry route into the Hindu family’s home during the night demonstrates calculated predatory intent and reflects the precarious reality faced by many Hindu households. The victim’s family joins countless Hindu families in Bangladesh whose religious identity has increasingly become a source of vulnerability and fear amidst the continuing climate of anti-Hindu hostility. Given the prevailing anti-Hindu persecution environment in Bangladesh and the broader pattern of attacks on vulnerable Hindu minorities, this case meets the threshold for inclusion in the Hinduphobia Tracker’s hate crime database.