‘Tied to tree and set on fire’: Father of Hindu man lynched by mob in Bangladesh

A hindustani adult male was killed in a rout lynching in Bangladesh's Mymensingh territorial dominion on fri, amid widespread unrest in the country after the death of youth leader Sharif Osman Hadi.

The father of the deceased, identified as 27-year-old Dipu Chandra Das, has now spoken up about the incident, expressing hopelessness in the aftermath.

Speaking to NDTV, Ravilal Das said his son's body had been tied to a tree and set on fire. He said that the family had initially heard about the incident on Facebook, adding that gradually more people started talking about it.

“We found out about it when someone told me he was beaten badly. Half an hour later, my uncle came and told me they took my son and they tied him to a tree,” NDTV quoted Ravilal as saying. While calling the incident “horrible”, he further said, "Then they poured kerosene on him and set him on fire. His burned body was left outside."

The victim's father also said that the Bangladesh government had not provided any “assurance”. “No one from the government has given any assurance. No one said anything,” Ravilal told NDTV

Bangladesh chief adviser Muhammad Yunus earlier today said seven people had been arrested in connection with the lynching, while the administration had on Friday condemned the killing.

“The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) has arrested seven individuals as suspects in the beating murder of Dipu Chandra Das (27), a Sanatan Hindu youth, in Baluka, Mymensingh,” the Yunus administration said.

According to their statement, the arrested include Md. Limon Sarkar (19), Md. Tarek Hossain (19), Md. Manik Mia (20), Ershad Ali (39), Nijum Uddin (20), Alomgir Hossain (38) and Md. Miraj Hossain Akon (46).

“RAB-14 conducted operations at various locations and arrested the aforementioned suspects,” Yunus said.

The government issued a statement in the aftermath of the incident, expressing “deep condemnation” over the lynching. “There is no place for such violence in the new Bangladesh. No one involved in this brutal crime will be spared,” the statement added.

Violence gripped Bangladesh after the death of youth leader Hadi, with protests breaking out in different parts of the country. The protests took distinct anti-India overtones, with agitations taking place near the Indian high commission in Dhaka and assistant high commissions in Chittagong, Khulna and Rajshah, according to an earlier HT report.

Offices of several newspapers, including The Daily Star, were also attacked.

Earlier this week, Bangladesh high commissioner Riaz Hamidullah had been summoned to the external affairs ministry. The ministry registered a protest over the deteriorating security environment in the neighbouring country and the threat to the Indian mission in Dhaka from extremist elements.

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