No evidence of derogatory remarks by lynched Hindu youth: Bangladesh officials

Dhaka: There is no direct evidence that the Hindu youth, who was lynched to death in Bangladesh's Mymensingh, had made any derogatory remarks hurting religious sentiments, an official told local media.

Dipu Chandra Das was brutally killed in a mob lynching over blasphemy accusations by a Muslim coworker at his factory. The mob on the night of December 18 killed Das and then hung his body from a tree and set it on fire over allegations of insulting Islam.

However, Company Commander of Rab-14 in Mymensingh, Md Samsuzzaman, told leading Bangladeshi newspaper The Daily Star that "no evidence was found indicating that the deceased had written anything on Facebook that might have hurt religious sentiments".

He also mentioned that neither the locals nor the workers at the garment factory could point to any such activity.

"Everyone is now saying that they did not personally hear him (Dipu) say anything of that sort. No one has been found who claims to have heard or seen anything themselves hurting religion... When the situation became volatile, he was forcibly pushed out of the factory to protect the factory," Samsuzzaman told The Daily Star.

The official stated that two people were initially detained in connection with the incident after the videos went viral, and subsequently, based on interrogation, five more were taken into custody.

Additionally, three more people have been detained and are being interrogated by the police, Mymensingh ASP Mohammad Abdullah Al Mamun said.

Meanwhile, a leading global advocacy organisation, Coalition of Hindus of North America (CoHNA), has expressed deep concern over the silence of international media and communities regarding the violence against Hindu minorities in Bangladesh following the brutal killing of Das.

The organisation condemned the brutal incident, warning that Bangladesh is "descending into a state of savagery," with Hindus facing the brunt.

IANS