Hindu woman and her daughter murdered, her son injured in a brutal attack by unidentified assailants in Chittagong, Bangladesh

Case ID : 30a903f | Location : Chittagong District, Bangladesh | Date of Incident : Fri, 12 June, 2026

Case ID : 30a903f

Chittagong District, Bangladesh

12 June, 2026

Hindu woman and her daughter murdered, her son injured in a brutal attack by unidentified assailants in Chittagong, Bangladesh

Attack resulting in death

Attacked for Hindu identity

Case Summary

In Anwara, Chittagong, Bangladesh, a Hindu woman and her teenage daughter were brutally murdered in their home by unidentified assailants, while her five-year-old son was critically injured in the same attack. The victims, identified as Annie Barua (40) and her daughter Priyanti Barua (16), sustained multiple sharp weapon injuries, while the injured child, Pias Barua, was rescued and admitted to hospital. According to reports, the incident occurred in the Chenamati Baruapara area of Parikoda Union on the night of 13 June 2026. At around 12:30 a.m., neighbours heard screams coming from the family's house and rushed to investigate. They found Annie Barua emerging from the house in a blood-soaked condition, carrying her five-year-old son in her arms. Moments after opening the door, she collapsed on the ground and succumbed to her injuries. Upon entering the house, neighbours discovered the bloodied body of her teenage daughter, Priyanti Barua, lying inside. The injured son was immediately rescued and taken to Anwara Upazila Health Complex, while the police were informed of the incident. The victims' husband and father, Sujan Barua, who worked as a security guard in Chittagong city and was on duty at the time of the attack, said he learned of the tragedy after receiving a call from relatives. He demanded exemplary punishment for those responsible for the murder of his wife and daughter. Following the incident, a police team inspected the crime scene and sent the bodies to the Chittagong Medical College Hospital morgue for post-mortem examination. Police officials stated that both deceased victims had sustained multiple sharp weapon injuries on different parts of their bodies. They further confirmed that the injured child was out of danger and that efforts were underway to identify and arrest those involved in the brutal attack, expressing hope that the mystery surrounding the double murder would soon be solved. 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 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 18th 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. 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 contributed to an environment of hostility and insecurity for the Hindu minority. The third phase of violence emerged after the 13th National Parliamentary Election 2026. Within days of the announcement of results, Hindu families in districts including Noakhali, Rangpur, Nilphamari, Sylhet, Thakurgaon, and Dinajpur reported 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 being added to the Hinduphobia Tracker under the primary category: Attack 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, cases where the attack led to the death of the Hindu victim/s would be documented. In this case, a Hindu woman named Annie Barua and her teenage daughter Priyanti Barua were brutally murdered by a group of unidentified assailants in Chittagong, Bangladesh, while Annie's five-year-old son, Pias Barua, sustained serious injuries in the same attack. In the prevailing environment of anti-Hindu hostility in Bangladesh, this incident aligns with the wider pattern of violence affecting Hindu minorities. 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. In this case, the perpetrators carried out a brutal attack inside the victims' home, inflicting multiple sharp weapon injuries on a Hindu mother and her teenage daughter, both of whom succumbed to their injuries, while leaving a five-year-old child critically injured. The severity of the violence, the targeting of multiple members of a Hindu family, and the attempt that left a young child wounded are consistent with the pattern of attacks reported against Hindu victims during this period and therefore support the contextual classification of likely religious hostility, absent contrary evidence. The case is documented as likely involving faith targeting, given the victims' identity as members of a vulnerable Hindu minority family and the surrounding pattern of persecution, while remaining open to revision if new facts emerge. The murders of Annie Barua and Priyanti Barua must therefore be examined not in isolation but against this documented backdrop of repeated violent targeting of Hindu individuals across Bangladesh. The extreme brutality inflicted upon the victims and the serious injuries suffered by a five-year-old child highlight the precarious security situation faced by members of the Hindu minority community. The attack aligns with a continuing pattern in which Hindu families, including women and children, face lethal violence in an environment where their religious identity increasingly exposes them to heightened vulnerability. Given the broader environment of sustained anti-Hindu persecution in Bangladesh, the case meets the threshold for inclusion in the Hinduphobia Tracker's hate crime database.