A Hindu scrap trader identified as Lal Chand Sohag was killed by a mob in front of the Mitford Hospital in Old Dhaka area of Bangladesh.
This incident has sparked outrage across Bangladesh with hundreds of students taking to the streets. The students criticised the Bangladesh interim government under Muhammad Yunus for the incident even as police arrested five persons in the matter. At least two of them possessed illegal firearms.
Case of Sohag’s murder
A video of the incident that went viral on internet showed Sohag being lynched with chunks of concrete slabs and then, after confirming his death, the attackers virtually dancing on his body. A murder case was filed with Kotwali Police Station in the capital by Lal Chand’s sister Manjuara Begum, 42. The case names 19 accused and includes another 15-20 unidentified suspects. Witnesses reported that he was dragged from his shop, beaten with iron rods and chunks of concrete, and left lifeless on the street.
Protest in Bangladesh
Students of private universities such as the BRAC University, NSU, East West University and government-run Eden College staged the demonstrations on Saturday (July 12) while the premier Dhaka University and Jagannath University erupted in protests soon after Lal’s brutal murder video went viral. “Who gave you beasts the right to kill people? What is the Interim (government) doing when extortionists are carrying out mayhem?” students were quoted as saying by local media. The demonstration was organised under the banner of Jahangirnagar Against Repression.
Sajib Ahmed Jenich, organiser of the Socialist Student Front (Marxist), JU unit, said during the rally: “Even after the interim government has taken charge, we still have to protest against enforced disappearances, murders, rapes and extrajudicial killings. This is deeply shameful for the nation.” He also directly linked the killing of Sohag to the failure of state institutions to act against politically protected criminals.
“When a murder isn’t acknowledged as a crime and attempts are made to downplay it, criminals feel emboldened to commit more. Sohag was murdered over extortion; that responsibility lies not only with BNP but also equally with the current interim government,” he said.
A news report claimed that the accused in the case were part of the youth front of former Bangladeshi PM Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party. It also added that the victim was also a part of the same outfit. The party has said that it has immediately expelled four perpetrators accused of lynching. Meanwhile, Home Affairs adviser of the Interim government, retired lieutenant general Jahangir Alam Chowdhury said that “the incident was very unfortunate for a civilized country.”
Mob violence in Bangladesh
Bangladesh has seen a surge in mob violence after Sheikh Hasina was ousted in August 2024. Since then, the interim government in Bangaldesh is being led by Muhammad Yunus. The movement to oust Hasina was spearheaded by Students against Discrimination (SAD). Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council on July 10 said the minority communities faced 2,442 incidents of communal violence in 330 days from August 4, 2024 when the political unrest reached its peak, eventually ousting the past regime. Right group Shushashoner Jonno Nagorik in a statement said last month that the wave of mob violence that began across the country after the mass uprising last year was now spiralling out of control.