Hindu man brutally killed by Muslim perpetrators; deceased victim subjected to anti-Hindu slurs

Case ID : e274dba | Location : Khulna Division, Bangladesh | Date of Incident : Fri, 25 July, 2025

Case ID : e274dba

Khulna Division, Bangladesh

25 July, 2025

Hindu man brutally killed by Muslim perpetrators; deceased victim subjected to anti-Hindu slurs

Attack resulting in death

Attacked for Hindu identity

Hate speech against Hindus

Anti-Hindu slurs, mocking faith

Case Summary

In Magura Sadar Upazila, located in the Khulna Division of Bangladesh, a Hindu man was brutally murdered by a Muslim man and his accomplices. Following the murder, the main accused directed dehumanising anti-Hindu slurs at the deceased victim. The victim is identified as Bhajan Kumar Guha, a 55-year-old Hindu trader. The main accused is identified as Mohammad Abir, a 35-year-old Muslim man. According to media reports, the attack took place while Bhajan Kumar Guha was returning home from his shop at around 11 pm. At this time, he was stopped by the attackers, hacked to death, and left in a pool of blood. Abir and his accomplices slit the victim's throat with a sharp weapon. Upon discovering Bhajan Kumar Guha’s dead body, local residents alerted the police. In a statement, the Officer-in-Charge of Magura Sadar Police Station, Ayub Ali, stated, “Locals informed police after finding the body. We recovered it and sent it to Magura Sadar Hospital morgue for autopsy.” Following the murder, the victim’s wife broke down in tears. Subsequently, the police launched an investigation and conducted a raid. Mohammed Abir was arrested, and the weapon used in the killing was seized. While being taken into custody, Mohammed Abir hurled dehumanising anti-Hindu slurs, such as ‘malaun’, at the deceased victim. He also made derogatory gestures and sought to justify the killing of the Hindu trader. Furthermore, since November 2024, Muslim extremists in Bangladesh have been running a campaign known as ‘TMD’ (Total Malaun Death), advocating the eradication of Hindus from the country. This case serves as a stark reminder of the growing Muslim extremism and anti-Hindu sentiments in Bangladesh, which have only increased manifold since the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government on August 5, 2024. After her violent ouster, Bangladesh plunged into chaos as Islamist extremists have taken advantage of the political turmoil to unleash a wave of terror and violence against the Hindu community. The Islamist mobs have attacked Hindu homes, burned them to the ground, and abducted women in a horrific descent into anarchy. Several temples have been destroyed in various parts of the Islamic country in a major crackdown on Hindus. Reports have exposed how Muslim students forced around 60 Hindu teachers, professors, and government officials to resign. Exiled Bangladeshi activist Asad Noor has also revealed that the minority Hindu community is now being coerced into joining ‘Jamaat-e-Islami’. Hindu religious events have been repeatedly targeted. On 6th September, a procession carrying Lord Ganesha’s idol was attacked in Chittagong. Ahead of Durga Puja, multiple incidents of idol vandalism occurred, including attacks in Mymensingh, Pabna, Rajshahi, Kishoreganj, and Dhaka. On 29th November, a violent Muslim mob attacked three temples in Patharghata, Chittagong, immediately after Jumma Namaz. The crackdown on Hindu voices has also escalated. On 30th November, Hindu journalist Munni Saha was arrested in Dhaka. Muslim mob attacks have increased in Bangladesh, for example, on 22nd May 2025, a Muslim mob carried out arson attacks selectively on Hindu homes in Dahar Mashihati village in Abhaynagar upazila in Jessore district of Bangladesh. Even ISKCON leader Chinmoy Krishna Das Prabhu and his aides have been targeted, and attempts have been made to ban ISKCON and suppress Hindu protests through sedition charges. These arbitrary actions point to a systematic pattern of persecution under Muhammad Yunus’s interim government.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category- Attack resulting in death. Within this, the subcategory 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. Another primary category in this case is Hate Speech against Hindus. Within this, the subcategory selected is- Anti-Hindu slurs, mocking faith. Anti-Hindu slurs and the deliberate mocking of the Hindu faith owing to religious animosity involve the usage of derogatory terms, stereotypes, or offensive references to religious practices, symbols, or figures. One of the common anti-Hindu slurs used against Hindus is “cow-worshipper” and “cow piss drinker”. The intention of using this term is to demean and mock Hindus as a group and their religious beliefs since Hindus consider the cow holy. Additionally, some symbols and the slurs attached to them have a historical context that exacerbates the insult, hate, stereotyping, dehumanisation and oppression against Hindus. Cow worship has been used for centuries to denigrate Hindus, insult their faith and oppress Hindus specifically as a religious group. There has been overwhelming documentation about how cow slaughter has been used to persecute Hindus with cow meat being thrown in temples and places of worship. There has also been overwhelming documentation where cow meat (beef) has been force-fed to Hindus to either forcefully convert them to Islam or denigrate their faith. Apart from cow worship, the Swastika – which holds deep religious significance for the Hindus – has also been misinterpreted and distorted to use as a slur against Hindus. Similarly, the worship of the Shivling has been used by supremacist ideologies and religions to denigrate Hindus owing to religious animosity. Such slurs and denigration stem out of inherent animosity and hate towards Hindus and their faith, therefore, it is categorised as hate speech targeted at Hindus specifically owing to their religious identity. The removal of Sheikh Hasina from power in Bangladesh on 5th August 2024 has dramatically escalated the persecution and marginalisation of the Hindu minority in this predominantly Islamic nation, intensifying what can only be described as a silent genocide. Since her ousting, Islamists have perpetrated unchecked atrocities against Hindus, including brutal physical violence, the destruction of temples and religious symbols, and the systematic displacement of Hindus from their ancestral lands. In the wake of Sheikh Hasina’s removal as Prime Minister, several attacks on Hindu temples, shops, and businesses have been recorded. Many Hindus have been savagely murdered or injured in these assaults. Amidst this wave of violence, news has emerged that a Hindu man was brutally murdered by a Muslim man and his accomplices. Following his murder, the Muslim perpetrator also launched anti-Hindu dehumanising slurs towards the deceased victim. In this case, the murder of Bhajan Kumar Guha, a Hindu trader in Magura Sadar Upazila, Bangladesh, was a clear act of targeted violence. Bhajan was attacked while returning home, killed with a sharp weapon, and left in a pool of blood. The brutality of the assault, along with the fact that he was singled out while going about his daily routine, underscores the targeted nature of this crime based on his religious identity. Such murderous attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh, perpetrated by Muslims, are driven by religious animosity and deep-rooted hostility towards Hinduism and its adherents. In this case, the attack was not a result of a personal enmity, financial dispute, or any provocation from the victim. Instead, it was driven solely by his religious identity as a Hindu. The fact that the main accused, Mohammad Abir, hurled anti-Hindu slurs at the victim after the murder clearly points to a religiously motivated hate crime, where the act of killing was not only intentional but symbolically directed against the Hindu faith. This is consistent with historical patterns of religiously motivated hate crimes in Bangladesh, where Hindus are targeted merely for existing as Hindus, with no other reason for hostility. In addition to this brutal act, the Muslim perpetrator, Mohammad Abir, directed explicit anti-Hindu slurs at Bhajan Kumar Guha. He called him a ‘malaun’—a word that is used to aggressively dehumanise Hindus in Bangladesh. Following this, he also tried to justify the murder of the Hindu victim. Such actions echoed a widespread pattern of hate speech that specifically targets the Hindu community. It went far beyond a mere insult; it reflected entrenched prejudice and a deliberate attempt to further degrade and humiliate the victim because of his faith. The use of such anti-Hindu slurs by the Muslim perpetrator makes it clear that the killing was motivated by deep animosity towards Bhajan’s religious identity, and the justification issued by the perpetrator further demonstrates the extent of religious animosity, making this a clear case of a religiously motivated hate crime. It is also important to note that the term ‘malaun’ had gained notorious prominence since November 2024, when it was weaponised in Muslim extremist campaigns such as ‘TMD’ (Total Malaun Death) by Islamist groups who openly advocated for the extermination of Hindus in Bangladesh. The repeated invocation of this word, alongside acts of violence, serves not only to insult but also to incite and justify broader communal hatred and persecution against the Hindu community. These facts demonstrate that such attacks and murders are not merely isolated incidents, but rather form part of a well-coordinated campaign to target and erase the Hindu community, all fuelled by religious animosity towards them and their religious beliefs. In this case, the Muslim perpetrators exhibited clear hostility towards the victim’s Hindu identity, meeting the definition of a hate crime. Therefore, this case is being added to the hate crime database. Disclaimer: Media reports do not specify the total number of accomplices associated with Mohammad Abir. Therefore, for the purpose of documentation, the perpetrator count is kept as '1', referring to Abir alone.