Overview
- Khokon Chandra Das was beaten, stabbed, doused with petrol and set on fire on December 31 near Keurbhanga Bazar in Damudya, then survived by jumping into a pond.
- Locals rescued him and he was first treated at Shariatpur Sadar Hospital before being transferred to Dhaka Medical College Hospital, where doctors describe his condition as critical.
- Damudya police say two local men, identified as Rabby and Sohag, have been named as suspects and efforts to arrest them are underway.
- The assault is reported as the fourth recent attack on Hindus, following the lynchings of Dipu Chandra Das and Amrit Mondal, and a separate factory shooting that police described as accidental.
- The cluster of cases has drawn concern from India over violence against minorities, while Bangladesh’s foreign ministry rejects claims of systematic persecution during the country’s interim administration.