(Image source from: x.com/HinduVoice_in)
The heinous rape of a Hindu woman in the Cumilla district of central Bangladesh last week ignited nationwide fury on Sunday after footage of the attack circulated widely on social media. In the capital city, students from Dhaka University held significant protests and filled the streets, calling for "immediate action" against those responsible. The crime occurred on June 26, when the 21-year-old victim was assaulted by a local politician at her family residence in Cumilla. However, the issue only gained public attention after a disturbing video showing the woman naked and being violently assaulted emerged online, revealing her desperate pleas to her assailants.
As of now, law enforcement has detained five suspects, including the primary offender, 36-year-old Fazor Ali, a local political figure. Nazir Ahmed Khan, the police chief of Cumilla district, reported that the main suspect was apprehended during a pre-dawn operation in the Sayedabad area of Dhaka, while four other individuals were arrested for disclosing the victim’s identity and images on social platforms.
According to authorities, the survivor's husband, who works in Dubai, had come to visit her and their children at her family's home in Muradnagar sub-district for the local festival, Hari Seva. At approximately 10 PM on July 16, Ali, from Ramchandrapur Pachkitta village, is said to have forcibly entered the house and assaulted her. Locals caught and assaulted Ali but took him to a hospital instead of handing him over to the police. Allegedly, he escaped from the hospital afterward. Some media reports have indicated that police intervention was prompted only after the video gained traction online.
Dhaka University students organized marches on campus denouncing the rape, while residents of the Jagannath Hall dormitory, designated for students from minority communities, held demonstrations demanding justice. Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, Secretary General of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), previously led by former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, called for severe penalties for the offenders. Simultaneously, the High Court has ordered the immediate removal of the online video of the attack, instructing authorities to ensure the survivor's safety and provide her with the necessary medical care. Sajeeb Ahmed Wazed, son of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her advisor, took to X to express his indignation regarding the incident, attributing the increase in mob violence, terrorism, and sexual assaults over the past eleven months to the administration of Muhammad Yunus.
Since the collapse of Hasina's Awami League government last August, incidents of violence against minority communities in Bangladesh have surged.
After her government was toppled amid a violent street protest organized by the Students Against Discrimination platform on August 5, Hasina sought refuge in India. Three days subsequently, 85-year-old Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus assumed control of the interim administration.
