Elderly Hindu man and his son brutally assaulted in Manikganj amidst continued persecution of Hindu minorities in Bangladesh

Case ID : 30a9e2d | Location : Dhaka Division, Bangladesh | Date of Incident : Thu, 13 August, 2026

Case ID : 30a9e2d

Dhaka Division, Bangladesh

13 August, 2026

Elderly Hindu man and his son brutally assaulted in Manikganj amidst continued persecution of Hindu minorities in Bangladesh

Attack not resulting in death

Attacked for Hindu identity

Case Summary

In the East Shanbanda area of Manikganj Sadar Upazila, Dhaka Division, Bangladesh, a Hindu gold merchant and his son were brutally attacked and robbed by four miscreants. The incident occurred on 14 August 2026, at around 9:30 pm. The victims were returning home after closing their shop when the attackers stopped them and assaulted them with iron rods before fleeing with gold, silver and cash. The victims were identified as Hindu gold merchant Patit Pawan Shil (72) and his son Prabir Kumar Shil (32). According to the complaint, the attackers struck the father and son on their heads with iron rods before snatching the bag they were carrying. The bag contained around 60 bhari of silver, two annas of gold and Tk 85,000 in cash. Hearing their screams, their Hindu neighbour Manoranjan Pal (50) rushed to the spot to help them. The attackers also assaulted him with an iron rod, injuring him. They then fired blank shots from their firearms before fleeing the scene, creating panic among local residents. Police reached the spot at around 11 pm after receiving information about the incident. The three injured men were rescued and taken to the 250-bed Manikganj General Hospital. Patit Pawan Shil, who sustained serious injuries, was admitted to the hospital, while Prabir Kumar Shil and Manoranjan Pal were given first aid. Following the incident, local residents demanded the recovery of the looted gold, silver and cash and the prompt arrest of the perpetrators. The incident also raised concerns about security in the area. Police said that necessary steps were being taken to investigate the incident and identify and arrest those involved. The exact value of the looted valuables and the identities of all the perpetrators were yet to be confirmed and would be established through the investigation. 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. Seven ISIS terrorists were convicted for shooting a school principal in Kanpur because they were triggered by the Kalava on his wrist and the tilak he had applied. In that case, the Hindu victim had offered no provocation other than openly expressing his Hindu religious identity. The motivation for the attack was purely religious, driven by religious supremacy. Such cases where Hindus are targeted merely because of their religious identity are documented as hate crimes under this category. In this case, a 72-year-old Hindu gold merchant and his son were brutally assaulted and robbed by four miscreants in Manikganj, Bangladesh. In the prevailing environment of anti-Hindu hostility in Bangladesh, this incident aligns with the wider pattern of violence and targeting faced by vulnerable 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. The attack generated concern among local Hindus because the victims belonged to a vulnerable religious minority community. Patit Pawan Shil and his son were attacked while returning home after closing their shop, and the perpetrators violently assaulted them before taking their bag containing gold, silver and money. The assault did not end with the robbery. Their Hindu neighbour, Manoranjan Pal, was also beaten with an iron rod when he attempted to intervene after hearing their screams. The perpetrators subsequently fired blank shots from their firearms, creating panic among local Hindu residents and intensifying concerns about the safety of Hindus in the area. The incident must also be viewed within Bangladesh's broader anti-Hindu environment, where Hindu minorities continue to face insecurity, intimidation, violence, and criminal targeting. Attacks on Hindus can be attributed to ostensibly non-religious causes such as robbery, extortion, property disputes, personal disagreements, or other local conflicts, thereby making it difficult to establish a religious motive from the immediate circumstances alone. However, such explanations do not negate the broader pattern of insecurity and violence experienced by Hindu minorities. The brutal assault on an elderly Hindu man and his son, followed by the assault of another Hindu man who attempted to assist them, contributed to the vulnerability within the local Hindu community. Given the prevailing anti-Hindu persecution environment in Bangladesh, the Hindu identity of the victims, the brutal nature of the assault, the robbery of their valuables, the subsequent assault on a Hindu neighbour who attempted to help them, and the continuing pattern of violence affecting vulnerable Hindu minorities, this case met the threshold for inclusion in the Hinduphobia Tracker's hate crime database. Disclaimer: In this case, there were three victims: Patit Pawan Shil, his son Prabir Kumar Shil, and their neighbour Manoranjan Pal. Henceforth, the victim count has been recorded as three for documentation purposes only.