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Stripped and tortured: How a Hindu temple priest was held captive, assaulted in Bangladesh

Subhash Deuri, a Hindu student who also works as a temple priest, was allegedly abducted, assaulted and tortured by unidentified men in Bangladesh's Dhaka on Monday night (June 29). After being rescued, Deuri reportedly told his friend that he was stripped and forced to demand money from his family members

A demonstrator displays a placard during a protest against what they say is violence against Hindu communities during ongoing unrest, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, August 9, 2024. File image/Reuters

FP Explainers|Jul 01, 2026, 14:07:01 IST

Is Bangladesh turning into a ‘no country for Hindus’?

There was respite in the assault cases against Hindus in the country for a few days after repeated attacks. However, the fresh forced abduction and assault of a temple priest, who is also a student, has ignited the debate around Hindus' safety in the country.

On Monday night (June 29), a 25-year-old Hindu law student and a temple priest, Subhash Deuri, was allegedly abducted, held captive and assaulted by unidentified men in Dhaka, Bangladesh, the local media reported.

Those who captured Deuri reportedly physically and mentally tortured him, stripped him and forced him to dial his family and friends for ransom.

What happened?

The victim, who is Deuri, a law student at Jagannath University, became a target of a group of unidentified men on Monday (June 29). However, it was not clear following the attack whether Deuri was targeted due to his religious identity.

Kajal Debnath, the spokesperson of Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council, told news agency PTI, “We have heard of the incident and are trying to get the details and ascertain if it was just a case of mugging".

Deuri was subsequently found on a street in the Old Dhaka area in the early hours of Tuesday (June 30) by his friends. They then took him to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) for treatment.

Detailing the condition of Deuri, Mohammad Faruk, chief of the police outpost at DMCH, said that he was rushed to the hospital's emergency department in critical condition around 7 am local time.

Deuri is undergoing treatment. Reports suggest that no complaint had been filed as of Tuesday (June 30).

"Stripped and forced to seek money"

Deuri is a resident of Magura district in Khulna division, which is around 170 km west of Dhaka. The law student lives in a rented flat in the capital along with a friend, according to reports.

His roommate's name is Duroj Saha, and according to Saha, Deuri had left their apartment around 11:30 pm on Monday (June 29).

"I received a call from his phone asking me to send him some money. I could not because I didn't have any," Saha stated, PTI reported, citing local media.

The alleged captors also reached out to Deuri's family members and sought ransom. Deuri's sister Jaya told Bdnews24 that she received a call from her brother's phone around 1 am on Tuesday (June 30). An unidentified man sought 30,000 Bangladeshi Taka during the call, she said.

Those unidentified abductors also gave a bank account number for the transfer, the report noted. Following which, 26,000 Bangladeshi Taka was transferred, and Deuri was thrown on a street in Old Dhaka.

Deuri narrated his ordeal to Saha after being rescued. He told his roommate that he had been subjected to physical and mental torture by his abductors and that the abductors stripped him and forced him to demand money from his family members, according to reports.

Deuri's one of his friends, who rushed him to the hospital, said, "We found his mobile phone and wallet missing." Officials are yet to ascertain the cause behind the alleged abduction and assault.

Bangladesh becoming ‘no country for Hindus’?

The attacks on Hindus in the country are rising significantly. On January 5, two Hindu men were killed in different parts of Bangladesh in a matter of a few hours.

Around 5.45 pm at Kopaliya Bazaar in Bangladesh, unidentified men shot dead Rana Pratap Bairagi, a factory owner and a newspaper’s acting editor. Hours after his death, around 10 pm, another Hindu man, 40-year-old Sarat Mani Chakraborty, was attacked with sharp weapons in Narsingdi district.

Before that, on January 3, a 40-year-old Hindu widow was allegedly gang raped in Kaliganj, a sub-district of Jhenaidah. The survivor’s police complaint states that two men tied her to a tree, forcibly cut off her hair, sexually assaulted her, and recorded the attack on video.

A day after Christmas, on December 26, 2025, also came the news of a Hindu man, Amrit Mondal, being beaten to death by a mob in Bangladesh’s Rajbari district.

The spate of violence against the minority in Bangladesh began with the lynching of Dipu Chandra Das in Mymensingh city on December 18, when the country erupted in anger over the death of activist Sharif Osman Hadi.

Working as a factory worker, he was lynched by a mob on allegations of blasphemy. According to eyewitnesses, allegations spread rapidly within the factory, triggering tension. An angry mob later assaulted Das, beating him severely. He reportedly died on the spot due to the attack.