Hindu woman subjected to brutal torture by Muslim husband in Palasbari, Assam

Case ID : 99581b6 | Location : Palasbari, Assam, India | Date of Incident : Thu, 31 July, 2025

Case ID : 99581b6

Palasbari, Assam, India

31 July, 2025

Hindu woman subjected to brutal torture by Muslim husband in Palasbari, Assam

Undecided cases

Attacked/Killed for Hindu identity

Case Summary

In Palasbari town of Kamrup district, Assam, a Hindu woman was tortured and subjected to extreme brutality by her Muslim husband, named Shafiqur Rahman. The accused married the Hindu woman about 11 years ago after luring her with various temptations. The victim stated that she was subjected to brutal physical and mental torture by Shafiqur Rahaman after she discovered that he was having an extramarital affair with a woman from Mirazpur, Uttar Pradesh. In a video that went viral on social media, the victim, Kankana Das, was seen with her hands tied, standing on a bed, with a rope tied around her neck and attached to a ceiling fan. The accused forced her to remain in this position for the whole night and recorded the entire act. He also uploaded this video on social media. The abuse reached a level where the victim had no option but to approach the police. As of the date of writing this report, a case was registered by the police under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including Sections 25, 85, 109, 117(2), 189, and 318(4). The accused was arrested by the police.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the Undecided database due to the absence of definitive evidence indicating a clear religious motive behind the abuse. In this instance, a Hindu woman was subjected to extreme brutality by her Muslim husband, Shafiqur Rahman. In the video that went viral on social media, the victim was seen with her hands tied, standing on a bed with a rope around her neck, and he forced her to remain in that position throughout the night. While there is a strong possibility that the Hindu woman may have been targeted due to her religious identity, there is currently no concrete proof that the violence was motivated by religious animosity. This could very well be a form of retaliatory violence where she was tortured because she found out about his affair. This is on the lines of a pattern where Hindu women involved in interfaith relationships with Muslim men have ended up either missing or dead, or were subjected to extreme brutality and torture. In many such cases, evidence has later surfaced showing that the women were specifically targeted because of their religious identity for sexual or personal exploitation. However, at this point, it would be inappropriate to classify this as a religiously motivated hate crime because of the lack of evidence pointing to a religious motive. Therefore, in the absence of clear and verifiable proof of religious animosity or intentional targeting based on faith, this case has been placed in the Undecided database. If further information emerges that indicates that this case was motivated by religious animosity, then it would be categorised under the hate crime database. Disclaimer: It is important to clarify that the report does not specify the exact date when the woman's ordeal began, but it mentions that the accused was arrested on 1st August 2025. Since this is the earliest date mentioned, we are considering this to be when the victim's ordeal began and using this as the incident date. While media coverage of the incident emerged later, the Hinduphobia Tracker records the incident based on when the victim’s ordeal began, not when it was reported.