Dhaka, June 30: In yet another disturbing incident of violence on minorities and the atrocities against women in Bangladesh, a Hindu woman was brutally gang raped in her own home in the Cumilla district, while her attackers filmed the assault and circulated the footage, a human rights body said on Monday.

So far, five accused have been arrested, including the main accused, Fajar Ali, who is a politician of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).

The Human Rights Congress for Bangladesh Minorities (HRCBM) said that the culprits circulated the video of the brutal assault “like a war trophy.”

“On the night of June 26, 2025, a Hindu woman in Muradnagar, Cumilla District, endured one of the most brutal forms of violence imaginable: her home was forcibly invaded, her dignity shattered, and her trauma recorded and circulated like a war trophy. She was gang raped by multiple assailants, her cries echoing through the silence of a country that has, for decades, looked away from the suffering of its most vulnerable,” read a statement issued by the HRCBM.

The human rights organisation also mentioned that the law enforcement officials failed to arrange a mandatory medical examination, delayed filing her First Information Report (FIR) until June 29, and later deflected blame by claiming it was “up to her” to pursue medical treatment.

The HRCBM mentioned that the critical delays in filing the FIR, failure to conduct a medical examination within the first 24 hours, and a dismissive attitude toward the survivor’s rights point to “systemic negligence,” adding that suggesting the survivor should arrange her own medical exam represented a “gross violation of procedural and ethical standards.”

The human rights body also said that despite public pressure and “media manipulation by Islamist groups portraying the crime as consensual,” one primary perpetrator and several accomplices involved in the distribution of the assault video were eventually arrested. However, several others remain at large.

The HRCBM asserted that in video statements received by the organisation from members of the local Muslim community, some of them were attempting to “downplay” the incident and “protect” the primary accused, Fajar Ali, and his gang — despite the “brutal nature of the assault.”

Such actions by community actors, it further stated, “obstruct justice and enable the normalisation of gender-based violence against minorities.”

“This incident is not isolated. It is a horrific example of an entrenched pattern in Bangladesh where minority women are routinely targeted, raped, abducted, forcibly converted, and shamed into silence,” it said.

According to the HRCBM, since April 2025 alone, 13 gang rape cases have been recorded in Cumilla District involving Hindu women. Additionally, across the country, reports of headless bodies, mass abductions, and forced conversions of young minority girls are rising at an alarming pace.

“Families now contact HRCBM regularly, pleading to rescue their daughters,” said the human rights organisation.

The HRCBM also criticised the mainstream Bangladeshi media for its largely silent response. They noted that the Muradnagar case, similar to many others, would likely have been “buried under layers of political denial and communal pressure” if it weren’t for the viral circulation of the assault video, which compelled public and institutional attention.

The HRCBM is preparing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) demanding a judicial inquiry into the condition of minority women and girls in Bangladesh.

At the same time, it called upon the international community — UN agencies, human rights defenders, and global civil society — to support its efforts, pressure the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government, and push for accountability mechanisms.

Condemning the horrific incident, Bangladesh Students League President Saddam Hussain said that in a country that increasingly resembles a “fascist Islamist regime,” the cries of women and Hindu minorities in Bangladesh continue to go unheard.

He stressed that each passing day brings another chilling tale of “temples desecrated, families displaced, and daughters brutalised.”

“The latest horror comes from Cumilla, where a young Hindu mother of two was raped at knifepoint by Fazar Ali and others. He is reported to be an active member of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), a party which has a long and controversial history regarding its treatment of religious minorities,” he said in a post on X.

“Her ordeal didn’t end there; they filmed the assault and continued to beat her mercilessly. The video, too disturbing to share, stands as a grim testament to the escalating violence and persecution faced by Hindu women and minorities in Bangladesh,” he said in a post on X.

“Her only crime: being a Hindu woman in a land where religious identity has become a target. As the nation turns a blind eye and justice remains elusive, the question lingers: How long will the Hindu community and women in Bangladesh be forced to live in fear? How much more must they endure before the world pays attention?” the post added.

Kolkata, June 28: In the midst of the outrage and politics over the rape of a woman in a Kolkata law college, the parents of the R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital rape and murder victim stated on Saturday that the law student’s parents should also be ready to fight a protracted legal battle.

Their comments came days after a Kolkata-based law college student became a victim of rape within the college premises on June 25 evening.

They stated that the woman’s parents should also be ready for a long battle considering the influential backing enjoyed by the three accused in the case.

The mother of the junior doctor who became a victim of a ghastly rape and murder in August last year, expressed apprehension that like the case of her daughter, there might be attempts to protect the accused in the law college rape case also in the due course.

Hence, they feel that what is required now is a mass movement exactly in line with what happened after the heinous crime with their daughter.

“What is even more shocking is that even after the tragedy with my daughter, there was not enough initiative to ensure the safety of women within educational institutions where they study. The administration and ruling party are now trying to shy away from their responsibilities over the crime in the law college rape. It is natural. But the reality is that the influential backing that the accused persons enjoyed gave them the courage to conduct such a heinous crime within the college premises,” the R.G Kar victim’s mother said.

The father of the R.G. Kar victim said that he fears that like the case of his daughter, there might be attempts by influential people and even a section within the administration to protect the accused.

“So I also feel that the parents of the victim in the law college case should also be prepared for a long battle like us. They should understand that the administration will not do anything and they will have to fight their own battle as we have been doing. What the victim’s parents need now is the spontaneous public support which we have received,” he said.

All the three accused in the case, namely Monojit Mishra, Zaib Ahmed, and Pramit Mukhopadhyay were linked to Trinamool Congress’ students’ wing Trinamool Chhatra Parishad (TMCP).

Pictures of Mishra with different top and heavyweight Trinamool Congress leaders have already flooded social media. While Mishra is a former student of the same law college, the other two are existing students.

All three of them, on Friday, were remanded to police custody till July 1.

Chandigarh, June 28: In a major action against corruption and drug networks in prisons, the Punjab government on Saturday said it has suspended 25 officials, including three Deputy Superintendents and two Assistant Superintendents.

The government said the action is part of the drive to root out corruption and dismantle drug networks operating inside prisons.

“Following reports of irregularities and drug-related activities within jails, the government said the action was to end corruption and drug networks. The big action was taken as per information received about corruption and drug networks in jails,” the government said in a statement.

In March, the government shifted notorious jailed gangster Jaggu Bhagwanpuria from the high-security Bathinda Central Jail to Silchar Jail in Assam as authorities suspected that detained gangsters were running drug syndicates from Punjab’s prisons.

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) had arrested Bhagwanpuria, also an accused in the killing of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala, under the Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances (PIT NDPS) Act.

Bhagwanpuria, against whom 128 FIRs have been registered in Punjab and other states, was arrested in a murder case in 2015 and, since then, has been lodged in several jails, previously in Punjab.

In the singer Moosewala’s murder case, it was Bhagwanpuria and gangster Lawrence Bishnoi who had hatched a conspiracy to kill him.

However, later, both fell apart. Bhagwanpuria, a native of Gurdaspur district, is considered the most dreaded gangster of Punjab after Bishnoi and has more than five cases under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for hatching conspiracies to disturb communal harmony in Punjab.

Bhagwanpuria is facing 15 cases of arms and drug smuggling. On his shifting to Assam, the NCB had said then that Bhagwanpuria was moved out of Punjab as he had “established linkages” with international operatives in Canada, the US and Pakistan. His relocation was a must to disrupt the ecosystem, facilitating continued criminal activities, it added.