Grim details have emerged after a Hindu businessman was hacked and set on fire by miscreants in Bangladesh’s Damudya on Wednesday. The Hindu man has been identified as 50-year-old Khokon Chandra Das, and his wife reportedly alleged that gasoline was poured on his head and face before miscreants set him on fire.
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Das runs a medicine and mobile banking business in Keurbhanga Bazar and is undergoing treatment in Dhaka after being gravely injured in the assault. The incident reportedly took place late on Wednesday evening near Keurbhanga Bazar in Kaneshwar Union, Damudya, Bangladeshi daily Prothom Alo reported.
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According to Khokon’s wife Seema Das, he was attacked on his way home from work and the attackers tried to kill him as he recognised two of them. “My husband closes the shop every night and returns home with the money from the day’s sales. Terrorists attacked him on Wednesday night. He recognized two of the attackers, which is why they hacked him to death, poured gasoline on his head and face and set him on fire,” Seema was quoted as saying by Prothom Alo.
“We have no enemies in the area. We have no dispute with anyone on any issue. We don’t understand why the terrorists suddenly targeted my husband and attacked him,” Seema further said.
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Meanwhile, Damudya Police Station Officer-in-Charge Mohammad Rabiul Haque said two men, identified as Rabbi and Sohag, have been named in the case.
Khokon Chandra Das was reportedly attacked while returning home in an autorickshaw after closing his shop and collecting the day’s sales proceeds. He was stopped by miscreants near Keurbhanga Bazar on the Damudya-Shariatpur road who then allegedly assaulted him.
They allegedly attacked the victim with sharp weapons, injuring him before pouring petrol on his head and setting him on fire.
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Das jumped into a pond on the side of the road to escape the attackers. The attackers fled the scene after locals raised an alarm.
The attackers fled the scene, police said, adding that he was rescued by locals and taken to Shariatpur Sadar Hospital, before being referred to Dhaka due to the severity of his injuries.
The assault on Khokon Chandra Das comes weeks after another Hindu man, Dipu Chandra Das, was lynched by a mob and his body set on fire over alleged blasphemy in Bangladesh’s Mymensingh.
A week later, on December 24, another Hindu man, identified as Amrit Mondal, was lynched over alleged extortion in Rajbari town’s Pangsha upazila.
According to the 2022 census, the Hindu population in Bangladesh is approximately 13.13 million, which accounts for about 7.95% of the country’s total population.