Hindu man brutally assaulted by mob in Bangladesh over blasphemy accusation

Case ID : aa4ae68 | Location : Tangail District, Bangladesh | Date of Incident : Sat, 5 April, 2025

Case ID : aa4ae68

Tangail District, Bangladesh

5 April, 2025

Hindu man brutally assaulted by mob in Bangladesh over blasphemy accusation

Attack not resulting in death

Attacked over 'Blasphemy'

Attacked for Hindu identity

Case Summary

A mob in the Tangail district of Bangladesh attacked a 40-year-old Hindu man named Akhil Chandra Mondal after accusing him of insulting Islam and mocking the Prophet Muhammad. The mob stormed his jewellery shop and physically assaulted him using sticks and rods. Akhil attempted to flee and sought refuge in a nearby shop, but the mob pursued him. He was dragged out, stripped, and beaten in full public view before police and army officials arrived to escort him away. Disturbing video footage circulated on social media showed Akhil bleeding from the head while being taken away by the police. Instead of taking action against the attackers, the authorities arrested Akhil. Following the failed lynching attempt, the extremists gathered outside the Tangail Sadar Upazila Parishad in protest, demanding further action. The episode drew widespread concern about the treatment of minorities and the use of blasphemy allegations as a pretext for communal violence. This incident was not isolated. Earlier, in February 2025, a Hindu man named Supta Saha Anik faced a similar situation in the Netrakona district after being accused of making objectionable remarks about Islam. Radical groups such as Hefazat-e-Islam Bangladesh and Tawhidi Janata led protest rallies demanding his arrest. The recurrence of such events highlighted the growing danger faced by Hindu minorities in Bangladesh, who are increasingly targeted under blasphemy accusations without due legal protection.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under the category of- Attack not resulting in death. Within this, the first sub-category selected is- Attacked over 'Blasphemy'. Blasphemy essentially refers to the desecration of anything which is held sacred/holy to a group of people. However, for religious supremacist groups, the elements of ‘blasphemy’ are ever-changing, shifting and expanding – leading to infringement on the rights of other religious groups, freedom of speech and expression, threats and even physical violence. There are instances where blasphemy is also used as a dog whistle to target Hindus owing to intrinsic animosity towards Hinduism. There are several instances where stating truths as mentioned in the non-Hindu doctrine itself has led to unmitigated violence against Hindus. There have also been instances where non-Hindus have themselves created a ‘blasphemous’ situation, like placing a Quran in a temple, to use it as an excuse to attack Hindus. Essentially, Blasphemy charges are often made up and/or are used to shut down any form of criticism of non-Hindu faiths and as a tool to target Hindus. Any physical violence over Blasphemy charges against Hindus are foundationally based on animosity for Hindus and their faith owing to religious supremacist ideologies, therefore, such attacks would be documented as religious motivated hate crimes under this category. The second 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. This incident qualifies as a hate crime because the violence directed at Akhil Chandra Mondal stemmed from an accusation of blasphemy—a charge often used by religious supremacist groups to justify hostility and attacks against religious minorities. In many cases, such accusations are not based on concrete evidence but on shifting interpretations of religious insult, used as tools to suppress other faiths and incite violence. In this instance, the mob used a supposed blasphemous Facebook post as a pretext to carry out a brutal physical assault. The lack of legal recourse and the subsequent arrest of the victim, rather than the perpetrators, further highlights the systemic bias and religious animosity that underpins such attacks. Furthermore, this attack was also driven by Akhil’s identity as a Hindu. There was no direct provocation aside from his religious background, which made him vulnerable to being singled out and assaulted in a region where Hindu minorities face increasing threats. This mirrors other documented cases in which Hindus have been targeted solely for their visible religious identity, such as wearing traditional symbols or expressing their beliefs. The combination of being accused of blasphemy and belonging to a minority religion makes this a clear case of a religiously motivated hate crime, fuelled by supremacist ideologies and institutional apathy.