Hindu woman brutally attacked with machete by Muslims in Bangladesh amidst ongoing persecution of Hindus

Case ID : 30a95b0 | Location : Feni District, Bangladesh | Date of Incident : Mon, 6 July, 2026

Case ID : 30a95b0

Feni District, Bangladesh

6 July, 2026

Hindu woman brutally attacked with machete by Muslims in Bangladesh amidst ongoing persecution of Hindus

Attack not resulting in death

Attacked for opposing radicals or trying to save victim

Attacked for Hindu identity

Case Summary

In the Kazirbag Ashrayan Project area under Feni Sadar Upazila, Bangladesh, a 44-year-old Hindu woman, Shilpi Kuri, was brutally attacked with a machete (dao) by a group of Muslim attackers, following a dispute over government-leased land. According to report, the victim, Shilpi Kuri, had obtained a government lease for abandoned government property in the Kazirbag Ashrayan Project area, where she had planted banana trees and other vegetation. At around 11:00 a.m. on 7 July 2026, Fatema Akter (48), a resident of the same area, along with several Muslim men, entered the leased land, cut down the banana trees, and attempted to take them away. When Shilpi Kuri objected, Fatema Akter attacked her multiple times with a machete (dao), causing injuries to different parts of her body. She was subsequently taken to Feni Sadar Hospital, where she received medical treatment. According to the written complaint lodged with Feni Sadar Police Station, during the assault, the Muslim attackers told the victim that the entire plot belonged to them and that she had no right to the land. She also threatened Shilpi Kuri not to return to the property in the future. The complaint further states that the matter was brought before respected local residents for mediation, but Fatema Akter did not participate in any settlement process. After Shilpi Kuri approached the police, she and her family received death threats, leaving the family in a state of fear and insecurity. Shilpi Kuri initially delayed filing the complaint because efforts were being made to resolve the dispute locally. She later submitted a formal written complaint at Feni Sadar Police Station, seeking legal action against the accused.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category of - Attack not resulting death. Within it, the sub-category selected here is - Attacked for opposing radicals or trying to save victim. In several cases, Hindus are attacked for opposing religiously motivated crimes being committed against a fellow Hindu or simply for voicing an opinion opposing radical elements, who either have in the past or continue to persecute Hindus. In such cases, the initial attack against the victim, against which the Hindu was trying to defend the victim, would also need to be classified as a religiously motivated hate crime. Since the initial crime itself was religiously motivated and the subsequent crime of attempting to save the victim or speaking against the radical elements ends up inviting a violent attack, it would also be classified as a religiously motivated hate crime under this category. The other sub-category selected here 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 Hindu woman, Shilpi Kuri, was brutally assaulted by a group of Muslim attackers after resisting an attempt to seize bananas from government-leased land that she had cultivated in the Kazirbag shelter project area of Feni Sadar Upazila, Bangladesh. In the prevailing environment of anti-Hindu hostility and insecurity in Bangladesh, the incident aligns with the broader pattern of violence, intimidation, land-related coercion, and targeting experienced by vulnerable Hindu minorities. While some may argue that the available information points towards a land dispute and does 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. This incident also reflects a pattern frequently documented in cases involving Hindu minorities in Bangladesh, where disputes over land or property become the backdrop for violence, intimidation, or attempts to dispossess Hindus. The accused not only assaulted the victim when she resisted but also asserted that the leased land belonged to them and warned her never to return. Such conduct went beyond a spontaneous altercation and amounted to an attempt to intimidate the victim into relinquishing access to land that she lawfully owned. The subsequent death threats directed at her and her family after she sought police intervention further reinforced the atmosphere of fear and coercion surrounding the dispute. The attack generated concern among the local Hindu community because it involved violence against a member of a vulnerable religious minority in connection with possession of land. Land grabbing and coercive attempts to dispossess Hindus have been repeatedly documented as a recurring form of persecution faced by Hindu minorities in Bangladesh. Even where incidents are presented as ordinary property disputes, the wider pattern of targeting Hindu-owned or Hindu-occupied land raises legitimate concerns that such violence may be facilitated by the victims' Hindu identity. The assault and subsequent threats therefore, contributed to feelings of insecurity among local Hindus, reinforcing fears that asserting their lawful rights over land could expose them to violence and intimidation. An additional factor that strengthens the basis for inclusion is the manner in which the accused responded to the dispute. Even if the accused genuinely believed that the land belonged to them, there were lawful civil and administrative mechanisms available to challenge the lease or assert ownership. Instead of pursuing legal remedies, the accused resorted to violence, intimidation, and subsequent death threats against the victim and her family. The decision to employ force rather than legal recourse, coupled with efforts to intimidate the victim into abandoning the land, is consistent with patterns of coercion and dehumanisation that Hindu communities have repeatedly faced, further reinforcing the suspicion that the attack was influenced by religious animosity, even though no explicit anti-Hindu remarks were reported. This incident must also be viewed within Bangladesh's broader anti-Hindu environment, where Hindu minorities frequently face insecurity, intimidation, land-grabbing attempts, extortion, social pressure, and violence. Attacks on Hindus are often attributed to ostensibly non-religious causes such as property disputes, financial disagreements, criminal activity, 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 Shilpi Kuri and the subsequent threats against her family reinforced the vulnerability of Hindus seeking to protect their property rights in an environment already characterised by recurring incidents of anti-Hindu hostility and persecution. 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.