Hindu woman brutally killed after performing evening puja in Comilla amid rising persecution of Hindus in Bangladesh

Case ID : 30a9ebc | Location : Comilla District, Bangladesh | Date of Incident : Sun, 16 August, 2026

Case ID : 30a9ebc

Comilla District, Bangladesh

16 August, 2026

Hindu woman brutally killed after performing evening puja in Comilla amid rising persecution of Hindus in Bangladesh

Attack resulting in death

Attacked for Hindu identity

Case Summary

In Comilla, Bangladesh, a Hindu woman named Bina Rani Roy was brutally murdered after performing her evening puja by a few unidentified miscreants. On 17 August 2026 at around 8:30 pm, 58-year-old Bina Rani Roy was at her home in Shil Bari, Barkait Dakshinpara, under Barkait Union in Chandina, Comilla, when the attackers entered the house and repeatedly struck her on the head. Bina Rani was the wife of Dilip Kumar Roy and was described as a traditional housewife. According to the available account, Bina Rani had completed her daily prayers that evening and was peacefully watching television at home when a group of miscreants entered the house and attacked her. She sustained severe injuries and began screaming for help. The attackers fled the scene before neighbours and relatives could reach the house. Locals subsequently found Bina Rani in a severely injured and bloodied condition and rushed her to Comilla Medical College Hospital, where the doctor on duty declared her dead. The murder caused anger and panic in the area, particularly among members of the Hindu minority community, and raised concerns about their safety and basic rights. The local Union Parishad chairman suspected that the attack might have resulted from a long-standing dispute over land acquisition. Following the incident, police inspected the crime scene and sent Bina Rani's body for post-mortem examination. The administration also stated that multiple teams had been deployed to investigate the murder, identify those responsible and bring them to justice. The killing of a Hindu woman inside her own home raised further concerns over the security of the local Hindu minority community. The incident left residents in fear and intensified demands for the perpetrators to be identified and brought to justice. 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, Bina Rani Roy, was brutally murdered by a group of unidentified miscreants inside her home in Bangladesh. 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. A particularly significant factor was the timing of the incident. Bina Rani was murdered shortly after performing her evening puja. In the context of the ongoing hostility and persecution faced by Hindus in Bangladesh, where members of the community have been targeted for their visible Hindu identity, participation in Hindu religious practices or simply for being identified as Hindus, the timing of the murder was highly significant. The fact that a Hindu woman was killed immediately after performing her puja, amid this continuing pattern of persecution, made it highly likely that she was targeted because of her Hindu identity and religious practice. The circumstances therefore indicated that the killing was most likely a faith-based attack targeting a Hindu woman. The local Union Parishad chairman suspected that the attack stemmed from a long-standing land dispute. However, this possibility did not rule out religious motivation, as Hindus in Bangladesh have frequently faced violence under ostensibly non-religious pretexts such as land disputes, robbery or accusations of criminal activity, which serve to obscure faith-based targeting. In this case, the suspicion of a land dispute emerged after a Hindu woman was brutally murdered inside her home shortly after performing her evening puja. Given the timing of the attack, Bina Rani’s Hindu identity and the wider pattern of persecution against Hindus in Bangladesh, the possible land dispute did not negate the strong indication that her religious identity may have contributed to her targeting. The case was therefore documented as likely involving faith-based targeting, while remaining open to revision if a subsequent investigation established a different motive. The murder of Bina Rani Roy highlighted the vulnerability of the Hindu minority community in Bangladesh and warranted examination against the wider pattern of ongoing anti-Hindu persecution. Given the circumstances, the case met the threshold for inclusion in the Hinduphobia Tracker's hate crime database.