Minor Hindu sisters attacked while playing [ Bagerhat , India ]

[ Reported as seen ]

2 minor Hindu sisters were brutally attacked by Shihab Howlader, Russel Howlader and other Muslim men while they were playing badminton in the field of a local church. The incident took place in Mongla upazila, Bagerhat district of south-western Bangladesh.

As per a media report, one of the two victims is a class 11 student named  Boishakhi Swarnokar and the other is a class 9 student named Shrabonti Swarnokar. They were injured badly in the assault and are now bed-ridden. At first they were being treated  at the upazila health complex. However, soon, the hospital shut their doors onto them by saying that ‘no beds were available’ and had to go home.

The victim’s family lodged a complaint at the local police station that same night, but the police yet again refrained to take any action against the attackers.

As per another media report, the two sisters were playing badminton when a gang of around 5-6 Muslim youth led by Russell Howlader, son of Shahidul Howlader and Shihab Howlader, son of deceased Belayt Howlader of the same area ambushed Baisakhi and Srabanti. The assailants grabbed their hair and dragged them from the playground and threw them on the road and thrashed them mericlessly. Locals rushed upon hearing the sisters’ cries, but no one dared to intervene for fear of the attackers.

When their mother came running to save her daughters, the men beat them too.

The deep wounds make the sisters wither in pain, but there is no help. Probably, if they had converted to Islam and provided the assurance of Jannat ( Heaven) for a Muslim person, their voice might have a chance to be heard. But, that was not the case. The country who wants to eradicate the Hindu population from the land has no reason to help them in any way.

Prakash Kumar Dash, Deputy Assistant Community Medical Officer of the sub-district health complex said that the ‘shortage of beds’ in the hospital because of which the two victims had to go home.

Other than taking a toll physically, the assault has also damaged the academic year of Shrabonti, who could not sit for her  annual Bengali grammar examination. As a result of which, this academic year went waste for her.

According to some locals, who had to maintain, their anonymity in order to survive from the radical Islamists, revealed that the girls were beaten up for no reason.

A tea seller, Poli Sarkar said in a media report, that Russell and Shihab are extremely feared in the area, so no one intervened when they were assaulting the sisters. Many families in this area have suffered at the hands of these two, but no one has ever received justice.