Massive Protests In Dhaka After Hindu Woman Raped By Opposition Leader
Thousands of university students took to the streets of Dhaka on Sunday, staging massive protests after a Hindu woman was allegedly gang-raped by a local opposition politician in Bangladesh’s Cumilla district. The incident has ignited widespread outrage and intensified concerns over the safety of minority communities in the country.
Police have arrested five individuals, including the main accused, Fazor Ali, a leader of the Khaleda Zia-led Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). Three of the other arrested individuals are accused of recording the horrific assault and circulating a video of the victim on social media.
The incident took place on the night of June 26 in Ramchandrapur Pachkitta village. According to the police complaint, the 21-year-old survivor, whose husband works in Dubai, was at her father’s house with her children for a local festival. Ali, 38, allegedly broke into the house and assaulted her for several hours inside the security guard’s room after she refused to open the door.
Locals reportedly caught and beat Ali before he managed to escape. He was later arrested by police in Dhaka’s Saydabad area around 5 am on Sunday.
The survivor lodged a formal complaint on June 27, and a case has been registered under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act. Videos of the protests, particularly from Dhaka University, show a large number of students clapping and shouting slogans, demanding “direct action” against those responsible.
The brutal crime has also triggered protests in the Cumilla region, with many residents expressing anger over the assault on a Hindu woman by a Muslim politician. The incident comes amid a reported rise in targeted attacks against the Hindu community in Bangladesh since the ousting of former Prime-Minister Sheikh Hasina, raising fears about the security of minorities in the current political climate.
