Sacred Hindu temple targeted for loot in Madaripur amidst rising anti-Hindu persecution in Bangladesh
Madaripur District, Bangladesh 
13 August, 2026
Case Summary
In the Tekerhat residential area of Rajoir Upazila, Madaripur, Bangladesh, a Hindu temple dedicated to Goddess Manasa was broken into and looted by unknown miscreants. The accused entered the premises by breaking the temple’s lock. Approximately 6 bhari of gold ornaments adorning the deity were stolen. The incident took place at the Manasa Temple located at the residence of the late Nitai Karmakar. The miscreants removed the valuable gold ornaments from the Manasa idol and fled. The stolen ornaments included those worn around the deity’s neck, hands and ears. A gold ornament placed on the deity’s forehead was also stolen. Following the theft, video footage from the temple and the surrounding area was reviewed to trace the perpetrator’s movements and establish the circumstances of the incident. The affected family, which was responsible for taking care of the temple, stated that the footage captured the image of a suspected individual. The family circulated the photograph of the suspected individual on social media and sought public assistance in identifying him. They appealed to anyone who recognised the individual in the photograph or had information about his identity to inform them immediately. They also announced that an appropriate reward would be offered to anyone who provided information leading to the individual’s whereabouts. The theft caused concern and anger among local Sanatan Hindu residents. Local Hindus demanded that the person responsible for breaking into the Hindu place of worship and stealing the deity’s gold ornaments be identified and brought to justice. They called for action against those responsible for the theft. The escalation of violence against Hindus and their places of worship 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 ?
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 religious representations of spiritual ideals, 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 most significant to Hindus, and daily rituals, prayers, and offerings are performed before them. 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 themselves 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, a Hindu temple dedicated to Goddess Manasa in Bangladesh was targeted by unknown miscreants who broke the temple’s lock, entered the premises, and stole gold ornaments adorning the deity. The stolen ornaments included those worn around the deity’s neck, hands and ears, as well as a gold ornament placed on the forehead. The perpetrators therefore specifically entered a Hindu place of worship and removed sacred ornaments associated with the worship and adornment of a Hindu deity, 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 stole valuable ornaments directly from the deity. 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 theft of sacred objects and ornaments belonging to Hindu deities, 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 gold ornaments, but that interpretation fails to consider that the perpetrators specifically selected a Hindu place of worship and removed ornaments that held religious significance for the Hindu community. In Hinduism, deities are worshipped through sacred representations and idols that form an integral part of temple worship. Through consecration rituals and regular worship, the deity’s image becomes central to the spiritual and ritual life of the temple and its devotees. Devotees offer prayers, flowers, food, lamps, ornaments and other forms of worship before the deity. Ornaments placed upon the deity are therefore not merely ordinary items of jewellery but form part of the devotional and ritual practices through which devotees honour and worship the deity. Hindu temples themselves are sacred spaces dedicated to the worship of deities, the performance of rituals and the observance of religious customs. They serve as important centres of spiritual and communal life, making the sanctity of both the temple and the deity worshipped within it deeply connected to Hindu faith and religious traditions. Therefore, breaking into a Hindu temple, breaking its lock, forcibly entering the premises and removing gold ornaments directly from the Manasa idol did not merely amount to random theft. The deliberate targeting of a Hindu place of worship and the removal of ornaments from its deity 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 articles that formed part of the worship and adornment of a Hindu deity, directly affecting the devotees who worshipped there. The specific nature of the target, the religious character of the stolen ornaments 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. Disclaimer: The Hinduphobia Tracker records incident dates based on when the crime occurred rather than when it was reported in the media. However, in this case, the media reports did not specify the exact date on which the crime occurred. Therefore, 14 August 2026, the date on which the incident was first reported in the media, has been selected as the indicative incident date for documentation purposes.
Case Status
Unknown
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Unknown
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
