No Evidence Hindu Youth Made Derogatory Remarks Before Lynching: Official

There is no direct evidence that the Hindu youth, Dipu Chandra Das, who was lynched to death in Bangladesh’s Mymensingh, had made any derogatory remarks hurting religious sentiments, according to an official. Das was brutally killed in a mob lynching over blasphemy accusations by a Muslim coworker at his factory on December 18. The mob killed Das, hung his body from a tree, and set it on fire over allegations of insulting Islam. Company Commander of Rab-14 in Mymensingh, Md Samsuzzaman, stated that no evidence was found of the deceased writing anything on Facebook that might have hurt religious sentiments. He mentioned that neither locals nor workers at the garment factory could point to any such activity. Samsuzzaman added that no one personally heard Dipu say anything of that sort, and no one claimed to have witnessed anything themselves that hurt religion. Two people were initially detained in connection with the incident, and five more were taken into custody based on interrogation. Three additional people have been detained and are being interrogated by the police, according to Mymensingh ASP Mohammad Abdullah Al Mamun. The Coalition of Hindus of North America (CoHNA) expressed deep concern over the silence of international media and communities regarding the violence against Hindu minorities in Bangladesh after the killing of Das. The organization condemned the incident, warning that Bangladesh is “descending into a state of savagery,” with Hindus bearing the brunt.