Hindu woman in Bangladesh faces illegal land encroachment, home vandalism and death threats from Muslim occupiers

Case ID : 90a0bdc | Location : Narsingdi, Dhaka District, Bangladesh | Date of Incident : Mon, 24 March, 2025

Case ID : 90a0bdc

Narsingdi, Dhaka District, Bangladesh

24 March, 2025

Hindu woman in Bangladesh faces illegal land encroachment, home vandalism and death threats from Muslim occupiers

Attack not resulting in death

Attacked for Hindu identity

Attacked to induce migration from non-Hindu dominated area

Case Summary

A Hindu woman, Sandhya Rani Biswas from Tattakanda village, Narsingdi, Bangladesh, lodged a complaint against Mukti Begum and her associates for the illegal occupation of her leased land. According to Sandhya, the accused forcibly took over nearly half of the 3 percent land allotted to her for residential purposes and bathroom construction, despite her annual lease payments made as per regulations. She further said that the accused frequently vandalised her home and issued death threats, leaving her in a state of fear. Local inquiries confirmed that a significant portion of Sandhya's land was being occupied without consent. While Mukti Begum admitted to occupying a small part of the land, Sandhya added that repeated local arbitration rulings in her favour had been ignored. Raipura Upazila Assistant Commissioner of Land and Executive Magistrate Md. Masudur Rahman (Rubel) acknowledged receipt of Sandhya's complaint and assured that legal action would be taken following a thorough investigation.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category- Attack not resulting in death. The sub-category relevant in this case 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 sub-category selected is- Attacked to induce migration from non-Hindu dominated area. There have been cases where the Hindus living in an area, often with a majority dwelling belonging to non-Hindus or those harbouring animosity towards the Hindu faith, the Hindu residents experience threats and violence. The violence is employed with the aim of making the Hindus leave the area and relocate, so the area could be turned into an exclusive ghetto for adherents of the non-Hindu faith or those who harbor animosity towards the Hindu faith. In several cases, the aim of exodus is explicit. However, in several cases, the demand for exodus of Hindu residents is not explicit. Violence by non-Hindu residents leaves the Hindu residents no option but to leave the area, thereby, turning the area into an exclusive ghetto of non-Hindu residents. In such cases, there are instances violence against the Hindu residents explicitly. For example, in the Hauz Qazi case of 2019, the Muslim residents claimed that mob violence against the Hindu residents had been triggered by a parking dispute. However, the violence did turn religious with a temple being desecrated and was directed specifically against the Hindu residents. The Hindu residents of the area were clear that the violence was religiously motivated and one of the motives was to affect an exodus of the Hindu residents. In such cases, even though the perpetrators have not explicitly expressed the aim of affecting exodus, the given circumstances and violence and precedent point to the intention of exodus and therefore would be categorised under this sub-category. Such crimes are religiously motivated and therefore are hate crimes. This case has been added to the Hate Crime Database due to the illegal encroachment, vandalism, and death threats faced by Sandhya Rani Biswas, a Hindu woman, even in the absence of an explicitly stated religious motive. The forcible occupation of her land, repeated defiance of arbitration rulings in her favour, and threats to her life suggest a pattern of targeted harassment rather than a mere property dispute. While the available details do not explicitly indicate a religious motive, the broader context cannot be ignored. When there is an ongoing ethnic cleansing based on religious identity, every crime in and of itself is assumed to be motivated by the same religious animosity even if there is a lack of specific religious marker in the immediate crime. During an ongoing ethnic cleansing, the dehumanisation of people based on their religious identity and the normalisation of religious hostility drives the crimes committed against them even when there is a lack of stated religious motive. For the purpose of documenting the 2024 ethnic cleansing of Hindus in Bangladesh, the Hinduphobia Tracker is assuming religious motivation ab initio. If a case is specifically and beyond reasonable doubt proven to be driven by motivations other than religious hostility, it will post-facto be removed from the Hate Crime Database.