Hindu man attacked by Muslims for being in relationship with Muslim girl in Bangladesh
Bangladesh 
27 February, 2025
Case Summary
In Bangladesh, a Hindu man named Rajon Pal was brutally attacked by Muslims for being in a relationship with a Muslim girl. The Muslim girl had herself revealed that she had proposed to Rajon, but despite this admission, Rajon was beaten, and his video was recorded by Muslims and uploaded on Facebook. Rajon was beaten brutally to the extent that he was admitted to a hospital.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the Hate Crime database under two prime categories. The first is- Attack not resulting in death. Within this, the sub-category 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. The second category selected here is- Men attacked for being associated with non-Hindu women. Under this, the sub-category selected is- Attacked/killed for being associated or suspicion of being associated with Muslim woman. There have been several cases documented of Hindu men/boys being attacked specifically by Muslim groups/mobs for merely being associated or suspicion of being associated or being seen with a Muslim woman in public. In most of such cases, the Hindu man is not in a relationship with the Muslim woman, however, the mob proceeds to threaten and/or assault the Hindu man for merely being associated with the Muslim woman in any capacity. The rise of such crimes stems from a particularly sinister campaign run by several Muslim ideologues and activists. The campaign claims that Hindu men are attempting to ‘lure’ Muslim women into relationships to ensure that Muslim women leave their faith and follow Hinduism. The propaganda has been spearheaded with the help of WhatsApp groups and the extensive use of social media, sans evidence of the same. In many cases, pamphlets were fabricated to lend credence to this campaign. The root of this campaign lies in the fact that several cases of sectarian crimes against Hindu women in relationships with Muslim men have been documented. In such cases, Hindu women have often been forced/pressured to convert to Islam, assaulted, threatened and even murdered owing specifically to their religious identity and their refusal to give up that religious identity to adopt Islam. To delegitimize the suffering of Hindu women when such sectarian crimes are committed against them, the theory of ‘Bhagwa Love Trap’ was floated by sections of the Muslim community. As this theory gained traction, Muslim mobs started targeting Hindu men who were seen with Muslim women. In several such cases, the Hindu man was assaulted merely for offering to drop a Muslim woman in his vehicle or being friends. The differentiating factor between such cases and legitimate cases of Hindu women being targeted while in a relationship with Muslim men is that there is no sectarian violence and force/pressure to convert. The nature of sectarian violence against Hindu women is not about two adults in a consensual relationship, working together, studying together, or even marrying each other where religious considerations are declared. In this category of crimes, it is pertinent to remember that in none of the cases, there is an element of the Hindu man masking his identity or forced religious conversion. Such cases are driven by specific religious motivations and against the religious identity of the victim and are therefore qualified as hate crimes. The attack on Rajon Pal is a textbook example of a religiously motivated hate crime against Hindus in Bangladesh. The violence inflicted upon him was not merely a case of personal grievance but was rooted in the entrenched religious hostility that seeks to control and punish Hindu men for associating with Muslim women. The fact that Rajon was beaten despite the girl admitting that she had proposed to him further reinforces the communal nature of the assault, as it was not about consent or morality but about enforcing religious supremacy. This incident aligns with the larger ongoing persecution of Hindus in Bangladesh, which has intensified following the ousting of Sheikh Hasina on August 5, 2024. Since then, Islamist groups have unleashed a systematic campaign of ethnic cleansing against Hindus, with reports of attacks on Hindu homes, businesses, temples, and individuals. The brutal assault on Rajon fits into this broader pattern of hostility, where Hindus are being targeted for their religious identity and are subjected to increasing violence and intimidation to suppress their presence and influence in society. The act of recording the attack and sharing it on Facebook also indicates that the perpetrators were not just punishing Rajon individually but were using him as an example to instill fear in the Hindu community. Given the religious markers in this case, this case has been added to the tracker.
Victim Details
Total Victim
1
Deceased
0
Gender
- Male 1
- Female 0
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 0
Caste
- SC/ST 0
- OBC 0
- General 0
- Unknown 1
Age Group
- Minor 0
- Adult 0
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 1
Case Status
Unknown
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 5 to 10
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
