Hindu temple attacked, sacred idols of Hindu deities vandalised by miscreant in Mymensingh, Bangladesh
Mymensingh District, Bangladesh 
28 June, 2026
Case Summary
A Hindu temple, the Dattabari Sarvajanin Puja Temple in Panch Kahania village under Dapunia Union in Mymensingh Sadar district, Bangladesh, was targeted by an unidentified miscreant. The accused broke into the Hindu temple and vandalised the sacred idols of Goddess Kali and Goddess Lakshmi, causing fear and anger among the local Hindu community. According to available information, the incident occurred on the morning of 29 June 2026 at the Dattabari Sarvajanin Puja Temple, an ancient and traditional Hindu temple where local devotees had been offering worship for nearly 37 years. The attack on the temple caused widespread concern among Hindus in the area, who described the locality as peaceful and expressed fear and anger over the deliberate targeting of their place of worship. An unidentified youth arrived at the temple on the morning of 29 June 2026 and first attempted to break the lock of the main gate using a bamboo pole before eventually breaking it with bricks. After forcibly entering the temple premises, the accused vandalised the sacred idols of Goddess Kali and Goddess Lakshmi before fleeing the scene. After receiving information about the attack, officers from Mymensingh Kotwali Model Police Station visited the temple and inspected the site. The Officer-in-Charge, Md. Shibirul Islam stated that police had collected CCTV footage from around the temple, which showed a youth breaking the lock, entering the temple, and vandalising the idols. However, local residents were unable to identify the suspect. According to the Officer-in-Charge, investigators suspected that the accused had come from outside the locality with the intention of disrupting communal harmony. Police stated that legal proceedings had been initiated and that all necessary measures were being taken to identify and arrest the perpetrator. Following the incident, Hindu community leaders and human rights activists strongly condemned the attack and demanded the immediate arrest of the accused, along with exemplary legal punishment. The attack occurred against the backdrop of continuing violence and insecurity faced by the Hindu minority community in Bangladesh. 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 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. 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 has been added to the tracker under the primary category - Attack on Hindu religious representations. Within this, the subcategory selected is - Desecration of Hindu religious symbol. Icons and symbols or a religious representation of a spiritual ideal are widely revered in Hinduism. Iconography is of vital significance in the Hindu milieu. It helps connect people’s spiritual beliefs with the real world. Iconography within the Hindu faith takes several shapes and forms. Murtis are of most significance to Hindus, to which daily rituals, prayers and offerings are done. Besides the murtis, there are several other symbols which have deep significance in the Hindu faith – the Om and Swastika for example. Since these Hindu religious symbols hold paramount importance in Hinduism, any desecration of symbols, icons, murtis, religious representations and manifestations, is driven by animosity towards the faith itself which manifests itself through these murtis, icons and symbols. Therefore, any desecration of these Hindu religious symbols and representations is considered religiously motivated hate crimes under this category. The other subcategory selected is - Attack on temples. In Hinduism, a temple is the abode of the Deity. The Deity in the Temple is consecrated, thereby, making it a real, breathing entity. Hindus believe that not just the Deity but the temple premises itself are sacred to Hindus since Hindus hold the faith that the entire Temple space is an amalgamation of the divine energy of the deity. Given the central significance of Temples in Hindu Dharma, any attack against a Hindu Temple or its peripheral premises is an attack on the faith itself and is born out of animosity towards the faith, of which, the Temple is a central tenet. Any manner of attack against a Temple and/or its premises would therefore be considered a religiously motivated hate crime. This case is a clear example of a religiously motivated hate crime targeting the Hindu faith and its adherents. By attacking a Hindu temple and vandalising the sacred idols of Hindu deities, the perpetrator deliberately targeted Hindu religious symbols and sacred spaces, demonstrating hostility towards the Hindu faith. In Hinduism, a murti (idol) is not regarded as a mere statue or artistic representation but as a consecrated embodiment of the deity after the performance of Prana Pratishtha, the sacred ritual through which divine presence is invoked. Devotees worship the murti as a living manifestation of the deity, offering daily prayers, flowers, lamps, food and other rituals as expressions of devotion. The desecrated idols in this case represented Goddess Kali and Goddess Lakshmi, each of whom holds immense religious and spiritual significance. Goddess Kali symbolises divine power, justice and the destruction of negative forces, while Goddess Lakshmi is revered as the goddess of wealth, prosperity, fortune and well-being. For countless devotees, these deities are objects of profound faith, reverence and emotional attachment that form an inseparable part of their religious identity. Therefore, the deliberate destruction of these sacred murtis amounted to far more than an act of vandalism against inanimate objects. It constituted an attack on symbols that millions of Hindus regard as living embodiments of the divine. Such actions inflicted deep emotional and spiritual pain upon the Hindu community, violated their religious sentiments and undermined their ability to practise their faith with dignity and security. By intentionally damaging the consecrated idols of revered Hindu deities, the perpetrator attacked the Hindu faith itself, making this a clear case of a religiously motivated hate crime rooted in anti-Hindu hostility and hatred. Acts of idol desecration have historically been used as instruments of religious intimidation and persecution against Hindu communities. The destruction of sacred objects seeks to convey contempt for the beliefs of an entire religious group and to create fear, humiliation and insecurity among worshippers. Such acts are not directed solely at stone or metal images but at the identity, traditions and collective religious consciousness of the community that venerates them. The vandalism of the sacred Hindu idols in this case reflects hostility towards Hinduism and serves as an act of symbolic violence intended to intimidate and marginalise Hindus. Hindu temples are sacred spaces where devotees gather for worship, festivals, community service, religious education and the preservation of cultural traditions. The temple and its consecrated deities are inseparable components of a single sacred ecosystem. The sanctity of a temple derives from the divine presence embodied in its murtis, and the daily rituals performed before them form the heart of temple worship. Consequently, an attack on the temple's idols is simultaneously an attack on the temple itself and on the community that worships there. In this case, the perpetrator desecrated the sacred idols housed inside the Dattabari Sarvajanin Puja Temple. The deliberate nature of the attack demonstrates hostility towards a Hindu place of worship and reinforces its character as a religiously motivated hate crime directed against the Hindu faith and identity. This incident also occurred within the broader context of continuing anti-Hindu hostility in Bangladesh, where Hindu minorities have repeatedly faced attacks on temples, idol desecration, assaults, intimidation, land grabbing, forced displacement and other forms of persecution. Such incidents have generated widespread insecurity among Hindu communities and have contributed to an environment in which places of worship and religious symbols remain vulnerable to targeted violence. Against this backdrop, the desecration of the Dattabari Sarvajanin Puja Temple cannot be viewed in isolation but forms part of a continuing pattern of attacks on Hindu religious institutions and the broader persecution of the Hindu minority in Bangladesh. In this case, although the identity of the perpetrator had not been established at the time of reporting, the nature of the act itself clearly reflected hostility towards Hinduism and the Hindu community. Therefore, this case is being added to the hate crime database of the Hinduphobia Tracker.
Case Status
Complaint filed
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Unknown
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
unknown
Sources 
