Hindu temple targeted, sacred idols looted in Faridpur amid ongoing persecution of Hindu minorities in Bangladesh
Faridpur District, Bangladesh 
15 August, 2026
Case Summary
In Nagarkanda Upazila of Faridpur, Bangladesh, a Hindu temple named the Central Kali Temple was targeted for theft after miscreants broke its lock and stole two brass idols weighing approximately 22 kg in total. According to media reports, local Hindus locked the temple before leaving on the night of Sunday, 16 August 2026. Sometime during the night, miscreants broke the lock, entered the temple premises and fled with the two brass idols kept inside. On the morning of Monday, 17 August 2026, the temple caretaker arrived to offer prayers and found the lock broken. Upon entering the temple, he discovered that both brass idols were missing. The theft caused concern and anger among local Hindu residents after the incident came to light. Following the incident, the temple authorities submitted a written complaint to Nagarkanda Police Station regarding the theft. Police said that an investigation had been launched based on the complaint, while efforts were underway to recover the stolen idols and identify those responsible. The temple authorities demanded the immediate recovery of the stolen idols and called for those involved in the theft to be identified and brought to justice. This incident occurred amidst the escalation of violence against Hindus in Bangladesh, which 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 ?
The primary category for this case is "Attack on Hindu religious representations". The sub-category for this case 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. Another sub-category for this case 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. In this case, the Central Kali Temple, a Hindu temple in Bangladesh, was targeted and its sacred idols were looted by unidentified miscreants. The perpetrators specifically entered a Hindu place of worship and forcibly removed sacred idols kept inside it, overall amounting to a religiously driven hate crime. Here, it is important to note that some people might downplay the incident and argue that the available details do not explicitly establish a religious motive and that it could simply be viewed as a case of robbery inside a temple. However, such an interpretation overlooks the broader context of attacks and discrimination against Hindus and their religious institutions in Bangladesh. The nature of the target itself is significant: the perpetrators did not enter an ordinary residential or commercial property but specifically broke into a Hindu temple, a place of worship belonging to the Hindu community, and removed sacred Hindu idols from within it. Following the political exile of Sheikh Hasina in August 2024, Hindus and their religious institutions have continued to face attacks, vandalism, looting, intimidation and other forms of hostility, making the targeting of Hindu temples particularly significant when assessing the nature of such incidents. The Hinduphobia Tracker therefore considers attacks on Hindu temples, including incidents involving the looting of sacred objects, within the broader backdrop of violence and persecution faced by the Hindu community in Bangladesh. An incident of this nature may appear to an ordinary observer to be merely a property crime motivated by the monetary value of the stolen objects, but that interpretation fails to consider that the perpetrators specifically selected a Hindu place of worship and removed objects that held religious significance for the Hindu community. In Hinduism, idols are not regarded merely as decorative objects or material possessions but as sacred manifestations or representations of the deities worshipped by devotees. Through consecration rituals and regular worship, an idol becomes an integral part of the spiritual and ritual life of the temple and its devotees. Devotees offer prayers, flowers, food, lamps and other forms of worship before the deity, making the idol a central element of daily Hindu religious practice. Hindu temples themselves are sacred spaces dedicated to the worship of deities, the performance of rituals and the observance of religious customs, and they serve as important centres of spiritual and communal life. The temple and the consecrated idols within it are therefore deeply connected to Hindu faith, worship and religious traditions, with their sanctity protected through established customs and rituals. Therefore, breaking into a Hindu temple, breaking its lock, forcibly entering the premises and stealing sacred idols did not merely amount to random theft. The deliberate targeting of a Hindu place of worship and the removal of its sacred religious representations demonstrated disregard for Hindu religious sentiments and undermined the sanctity of a space considered sacred by the Hindu community. The perpetrators specifically violated a religious institution and removed objects that form an integral part of Hindu worship and temple practices, directly affecting the devotees who worshipped there. The specific nature of the target, the religious character of the stolen objects and the broader context of attacks against Hindu temples and religious representations in Bangladesh indicate that the incident cannot be viewed in isolation as an ordinary property crime devoid of religious implications. Such acts leave members of the Hindu community feeling threatened and fearful for the security of their religious identity, particularly in a Muslim-majority country such as Bangladesh, where Hindus have faced sustained persecution and attacks on account of their religious identity. The incident therefore constituted the targeting of a Hindu religious institution and was classified as a religiously driven crime. Overall, since this case met the parameters of a hate crime, it was added to the hate crime database of the Hinduphobia Tracker.
Case Status
Complaint filed
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Unknown
Perpetrators Range
Unknown
Perpetrators Gender
unknown
Sources 
