Hindu family attacked over land dispute in Bangladesh, say they are being pressurised to leave the area

Case ID : 30a9769 | Location : Kesabpur, Khulna District, Bangladesh | Date of Incident : Wed, 15 July, 2026

Case ID : 30a9769

Kesabpur, Khulna District, Bangladesh

15 July, 2026

Hindu family attacked over land dispute in Bangladesh, say they are being pressurised to leave the area

Attack not resulting in death

Attacked to induce migration from non-Hindu dominated area

Case Summary

A Hindu family from Sagar Dakhati village in Keshabpur Upazila of Jashore district, Bangladesh, was attacked by Nur Islam Mondal, Rafiqul, Roni, Jahangirul, Sumon, Badhsha and around 10–12 associates over a land dispute. The family stated that the accused had been pressuring them to leave the area for a prolonged period and were associated with the BNP (Bangladesh Nationalist Party) and its student wing. On 15 July 2026, the accused attacked the family, injuring Sushanta Mondal, his brother Dulal Mondal, his nephew Amit Mondal, and his wife Swapna Rani Mondal. During the attack, the accused pulled off Swapna Rani Mondal's clothes and sexually assaulted her. The family stated that the accused had attacked them on previous occasions as well, forcing them to leave their home out of fear. A complaint was filed with Keshabpur Police Station, and Officer-in-Charge Rokonuzzaman Khan stated that legal action would be taken against those responsible. This incident is part of an ongoing pattern of violence against Hindus in Bangladesh, where the community has repeatedly faced persecution and disruptions to their religious festivals and gatherings. Such attacks on Hindu minorities have become increasingly frequent and intensified since August 2024. 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 has been added to the tracker under the prime category: Attack not resulting in death. The relevant sub-category in this case is "Attacked to induce migration from non-Hindu dominated area". There have been cases where the Hindus living in an area, often with a majority dwelling belonging to non-Hindus or those harbouring animosity towards the Hindu faith, the Hindu residents experience threats and violence. The violence is employed with the aim of making the Hindus leave the area and relocate, so the area could be turned into an exclusive ghetto for adherents of the non-Hindu faith or those who harbor animosity towards the Hindu faith. In several cases, the aim of exodus is explicit. However, in several cases, the demand for exodus of Hindu residents is not explicit, however, violence by non-Hindu residents leaves the Hindu residents no option but to leave the area, thereby, turning the area into an exclusive ghetto of non-Hindu residents. In such cases, there are instances violence against the Hindu residents explicitly. For example, in the Hauz Qazi case of 2019, the Muslim residents claimed that mob violence against the Hindu residents had been triggered by a parking dispute. However, the violence did turn religious with a temple being desecrated and was directed specifically against the Hindu residents. The Hindu residents of the area were clear that the violence was religiously motivated and one of the motives was to affect an exodus of the Hindu residents. In such cases, even though the perpetrators have not explicitly expressed the aim of affecting exodus, the given circumstances and violence and precedent point to the intention of exodus and therefore would be categorized under this sub-category. Such crimes are religiously motivated and therefore are hate crimes. One important aspect of this case is that the victims belonged to the Hindu minority community in Bangladesh. The family stated that they had been facing sustained pressure to leave their village even before the physical assault took place. Such intimidation is significant because forcing members of a religious minority to abandon their homes and localities is a recognised form of persecution. It not only threatens their physical security but also seeks to erode their ability to continue living as members of their community in that area. Another significant aspect is that the violence was directed against multiple members of the same Hindu family. Targeting an entire family, rather than a single individual, amplifies fear beyond the immediate victims and sends a wider message of intimidation to the surrounding Hindu community. Such attacks create an atmosphere where other Hindu families may also fear violence and displacement. And it makes the entire community vulnerable and insecure. Furthermore, the sexual assault of Swapna Rani Mondal during the attack is a significant indicator of targeted persecution. In incidents involving vulnerable minority communities, sexual violence is often used not merely as an assault against an individual woman but as a means of humiliating, terrorising, and asserting dominance over the wider community to which she belongs. The use of such violence during an attack on a Hindu family reinforces the communal dimension of the offence. While the incident was presented as arising from a land dispute, the surrounding circumstances indicate that the dispute itself was only a convenient pretext. The perpetrators' repeated demands that the Hindu family leave the locality demonstrate that their objective was not simply to secure possession of land but to force Hindus out of the area altogether. The dispute therefore became a vehicle for expressing religious hostility and asserting that the locality was not a place where Hindus were welcome. The fact that this incident occurred in Bangladesh is significant. Here, Hindus constitute a religious minority in the country and are therefore extremely vulnerable. The majority Muslims view the entire country as their exclusive zone where non-Muslims, particularly Hindus, are unwelcome. This sense of entitlement and superiority not only reflects deep-seated prejudice but also highlights an attempt to assert religious dominance over public spaces. The assault on the family was motivated by this supremacist ideology, where Islamists in the area looked down upon Hindus, believing that they had the right to dictate who could move freely through their community. The act of harassing and assaulting the Hindu family for simply living there illustrates a dangerous mindset rooted in exclusion, intolerance and religious animosity. The Hinduphobia Tracker has documented a sustained pattern of attacks on Hindus in the country, particularly following the political instability that emerged after the ouster of Sheikh Hasina in August 2024. Since then, Hindu families have repeatedly faced physical assaults, land grabbing, forced displacement, attacks on places of worship, desecration of idols, sexual violence, and threats intended to drive them from their homes. These incidents reveal a broader pattern in which religious identity has rendered Hindus especially vulnerable to targeted violence and intimidation. Viewed against this backdrop, the attack on this Hindu family and the reported efforts to force them out of their village cannot be seen in isolation. Rather, they form part of a continuing pattern of hostility directed against the Hindu minority in Bangladesh, reinforcing the religiously motivated nature of the offence.