Hindu business woman murdered by Muslim men in Bangladesh amidst ongoing persecution of Hindus
Bogra District, Bangladesh 
15 October, 2025
Case Summary
A 67-year-old Hindu woman, Bimla Poddar, was strangled and murdered by Muslim men during a robbery in the Bogura district of Bangladesh. According to reports, Bimla’s brother, Hemchand (Hemu) Poddar, said that his siblings, two brothers and three sisters, had lived together in their ancestral home at Talora Bazaar Mahalla and jointly managed their family’s rice trading business. The crime took place on the night of 16 October 2025, when five to seven masked Muslim robbers broke into the house, tied up the siblings, and assaulted them. The robbers demanded the keys to the valuables. Bimla resisted their attempt, but she was strangled to death during the struggle. The robbers fled after looting over four lakh rupees in cash and three mobile phones. Following this, the police were later called to the scene. They recovered Bimla’s dead body and sent it for autopsy. Subsequently, the police launched a drive based on secret information and arrested four Muslim accused. Two mobile phones and cash were recovered from their possession. The police identified three of the arrested accused as Jewel Hossain (26), Aslam Hossain (25), and Imran Ali (31). This case serves as a stark reminder of the continued persecution of Hindus in Bangladesh, which has only increased manifold since the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government on August 5, 2024. After her violent ouster, Bangladesh plunged into chaos as Islamist extremists took advantage of the political turmoil to unleash a wave of terror and violence against the Hindu community. The Islamist mobs have attacked Hindu homes, burned them to the ground, and abducted women in a horrific descent into anarchy. Several temples have been destroyed in various parts of the Islamic country in a major crackdown on Hindus. Reports have exposed how Muslim students forced around 60 Hindu teachers, professors, and government officials to resign. Exiled Bangladeshi activist Asad Noor has also revealed that the minority Hindu community is now being coerced into joining ‘Jamaat-e-Islami’. Hindu religious events have been repeatedly targeted. On 6th September, a procession carrying Lord Ganesha’s idol was attacked in Chittagong. Ahead of Durga Puja, multiple incidents of idol vandalism occurred, including attacks in Mymensingh, Pabna, Rajshahi, Kishoreganj, and Dhaka. On 29th November, a violent Muslim mob attacked three temples in Patharghata, Chittagong, immediately after Jumma Namaz. The crackdown on Hindu voices has also escalated. On 30th November, Hindu journalist Munni Saha was arrested in Dhaka. Muslim mob attacks have increased in Bangladesh, for example, on 22nd May 2025, a Muslim mob carried out arson attacks selectively on Hindu homes in Dahar Mashihati village in Abhaynagar upazila in Jessore district of Bangladesh. Even ISKCON leader Chinmoy Krishna Das Prabhu and his aides have been targeted, and attempts have been made to ban ISKCON and suppress Hindu protests through sedition charges. These arbitrary actions point to a systematic pattern of persecution under Muhammad Yunus’s interim government.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been categorised under the ‘Undecided’ database in the Hinduphobia Tracker, as there is currently no conclusive evidence confirming a religious motivation behind the crime. However, it is important to consider the broader context in which the incident occurred. The crime took place in Bangladesh, where the Hindu minority has historically faced systemic persecution and violent attacks by the Muslim majority. This trend has intensified significantly following the ousting of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on 5 August 2024. Since her removal, there has been a marked surge in violence against the Hindu community, including reports of murders, rapes, forced conversions, mob lynchings, assaults, temple desecrations, and the displacement of Hindus from their ancestral properties. Given the worsening situation, in this case, it is entirely possible that the Hindu victim was killed by the Muslim perpetrators because of her religious identity. At the same time, it is possible that this was a crime of opportunity, primarily driven by the intent to rob, with murder committed during resistance. Therefore, in the absence of any definite evidence pointing to a religious motive, the case will remain categorised as ‘Undecided’. If any further information emerges that showcases that the crime was motivated by religious hostility, then this case will be reassessed and added to the hate crime database.
Victim Details
Total Victim
1
Deceased
1
Gender
- Male 0
- Female 1
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 0
Caste
- SC/ST 0
- OBC 0
- General 1
- Unknown 0
Age Group
- Minor 0
- Adult 1
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 0
Case Status
Case sub-judice
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 5 to 10
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
