Minor Hindu girl abducted amid ongoing persecution of Hindus in Bangladesh; police inaction sparks outrage

Case ID : c6fd4e5 | Location : Gazipur District, Bangladesh | Date of Incident : Thu, 25 September, 2025

Case ID : c6fd4e5

Gazipur District, Bangladesh

25 September, 2025

Minor Hindu girl abducted amid ongoing persecution of Hindus in Bangladesh; police inaction sparks outrage

Attack not resulting in death

Attacked for Hindu identity

Case Summary

In Ghazipur, Bangladesh, a 14-year-old Hindu girl was abducted by unidentified criminals, provoking widespread outrage. According to reports, the minor girl was forcibly abducted while returning from school and a ransom demand of Tk 10 lakh was made from the victim's family. The family, who have since been living in constant fear, filed a formal complaint with Kapasia Police Station, but no concrete action was taken by the police. According to the victim's father, Gouri Chandra Das, they received threatening calls demanding the ransom, yet the authorities did little beyond recording their statement. The case attracted attention from international human rights organisations. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch had previously reported that Bangladesh’s Hindu minority faced systemic threats, including forced conversions, land grabbing, and targeted abductions. A spokesperson from Amnesty International stated that the abduction reflected broader societal issues, and the failure to respond effectively to such cases demonstrated a lack of protection for minority communities and undermined confidence in state institutions. UN human rights officials also emphasised that governments had a duty to protect all citizens regardless of religion. They noted that every day that passed without action diminished the likelihood of a safe recovery and that cases like this traumatised families while eroding public trust in the justice system. This incident is a stark reminder of the atrocities Hindu minorities face in Islamic states like Bangladesh, which has only grown manifold following the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government on August 5, 2024. The instability had created an environment where extremist violence against the Hindu minority escalated. Reports indicated a surge in mob attacks targeting Hindu homes, many of which were set ablaze. Women were reportedly abducted and raped during these violent events. Additionally, multiple temples, including the historic Manasa Mata temple, were destroyed, further amplifying fear within the Hindu community.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under the prime category of- Attack resulting in death and under 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, cases where the attack led to the death of the Hindu victim/s would be documented. This case has been added to the tracker because of the hostile and anti-minority environment that continues to exist in Bangladesh. Religious minorities, particularly Hindus, are frequently treated with contempt and hatred, a situation that has intensified in recent years amid political instability and weak institutional protections. In this broader context, there has been a noticeable increase in crimes targeting Hindu communities, including abductions, extortion, and harassment. This case must be viewed as part of that larger pattern of rising religious intolerance and targeted hostility. In this instance, a minor Hindu girl was abducted by unidentified criminals who demanded a ransom from her family. Despite the family filing a complaint with the local police, no significant action was taken. Reports and human rights documentation consistently highlight how Hindu women and girls are especially vulnerable to such attacks, often with minimal intervention from authorities, and how such crimes are frequently facilitated or ignored by local institutions, including law enforcement. If such an incident had occurred elsewhere, it might have been placed under the "Undecided" database of the Hinduphobia Tracker, as the case details do not explicitly indicate a religious motive, allowing room to interpret it as a crime of opportunity. While the available details do not explicitly indicate a religious motive, it must be viewed within the broader context of targeted violence intended to unsettle Hindu populations in regions where they constitute a vulnerable minority. 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 markers in the immediate crime. During an ongoing ethnic cleansing, the dehumanisation of people based on their religious identity and the normalisation of religious hostility drive 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 a reasonable doubt proven to be driven by motivations other than religious hostility, it will post-facto be removed from the hate crime database. Disclaimer: It is important to clarify that none of the media sources covering this case have specified the exact date when the victim's ordeal began, though it is mentioned that she was kidnapped about a month ago. Thus, to document this case, we have used an indicative date, August 25, 2025, as a placeholder to represent the beginning of her suffering. While media coverage of the incident emerged on September 25, 2025, the Hinduphobia Tracker records the incident based on when the victim’s ordeal began, not when it was reported.