Hindu family brutally attacked in Habiganj amidst ongoing persecution of Hindu minorities in Bangladesh

Case ID : 30a8d79 | Location : Habiganj District, Bangladesh | Date of Incident : Fri, 5 June, 2026

Case ID : 30a8d79

Habiganj District, Bangladesh

5 June, 2026

Hindu family brutally attacked in Habiganj amidst ongoing persecution of Hindu minorities in Bangladesh

Attack not resulting in death

Attacked for Hindu identity

Case Summary

In Habiganj's Baniachang Upazila, Bangladesh, a Hindu family was brutally attacked by unidentified assailants under the pretext of disputes over harvesting kachu (a tropical plant) sticks and opposition to drug abuse and drug-related activities in the area. The attack took place on June 6, 2026, in the Palhati area of North-East Union. Four members of the Hindu family, including Gauri Das (45), daughter of the late Shyamal Das, were injured in the assault. Gauri Das suffered serious injuries after being struck with a sharp weapon, while her three brothers and other family members were also beaten. According to the family, abandoned locations around their residence had long been used by drug addicts and drug dealers. The family had repeatedly objected to and attempted to stop these activities, which led to hostility from local individuals. The local residents stated that the dispute over kachu sticks was merely a trigger and that the attack was linked to the family's efforts to curb drug-related activities. Following the incident, the injured were admitted to Baniachang Upazila Health Complex. The victim's family further stated that influential individuals were attempting to settle the matter locally in order to shield the accused from legal consequences. They demanded a proper investigation and strict action against those responsible for the attack. 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 is added to the 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 the 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 family in the Palhati area of Baniachang Upazila, Habiganj district, Bangladesh, was attacked by a group of local assailants under the pretext of a dispute over harvesting kachu sticks, opposition to drug abuse and drug-related activities in the area. In the prevailing environment of anti-Hindu hostility in Bangladesh, the incident aligns with the broader pattern of insecurity, violence, and targeting faced by vulnerable Hindu minorities. While some may argue that the available details point towards a local dispute and do not explicitly establish a religious motive, the broader context of anti-Hindu hostility, persecution, and insecurity in Bangladesh remains relevant for classification. During periods marked by sustained violence, intimidation, and targeting of Hindus based on their religious identity, the Hinduphobia Tracker applies a contextual presumption that attacks on Hindu victims may be faith-targeted, even when immediate reports attribute the violence to personal, criminal, or local disputes and do not record an explicit religious motive. In such circumstances, the vulnerability of Hindu communities and the normalisation of hostility towards religious minorities can contribute to attacks occurring without perpetrators openly expressing religious intent. 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 attack generated concern among local Hindus because the victims belonged to a vulnerable religious minority community. Although the immediate pretext was described as a dispute over kachu sticks and opposition to local drug-related activities, the violent targeting of a Hindu family reinforced existing fears among Hindus living in an environment already characterised by recurring incidents of anti-Hindu hostility, intimidation, and violence. This incident must also be viewed within Bangladesh's broader anti-Hindu environment, where Hindu minorities frequently face insecurity, intimidation, land-related conflicts, social pressure, and violence. Attacks on Hindus are often attributed to ostensibly non-religious causes such as personal disputes, criminal activities, property disagreements, or other local conflicts, thereby obscuring the possibility of underlying religious hostility. In many instances, such explanations can divert attention from the broader pattern of discrimination and violence faced by Hindu minorities. The assault on this Hindu family contributed to feelings of insecurity within the local Hindu community and reinforced the reality of vulnerability, irrespective of whether the perpetrators explicitly stated a religious motive. Given the prevailing anti-Hindu persecution environment in Bangladesh and the continuing pattern of violence affecting vulnerable Hindu minorities, this case meets the threshold for inclusion in the Hinduphobia Tracker's hate crime database. Disclaimer: Although reports indicate that additional members of the Hindu family were also assaulted during the attack, only four victims have been specifically identified by name in available sources: Gauri Das and her three brothers. Since the identities and exact number of the other injured family members have not been clearly specified, the Hinduphobia Tracker is conservatively recording the victim count as four for documentation purposes. This figure reflects only those victims who have been explicitly identified in source reports and does not represent the total number of individuals affected by the attack.