Dhaka, Sep 10 (IANS) Amid escalating political violence in Bangladesh, another Awami League leader was brutally killed by unidentified assailants in Harinakundu upazila of Jhenaidah district, local media reported on Thursday.
The deceased, identified as 48-year-old Monayem Hossain, was hacked to death while returning home from the Moyenkhali Bazar area of the upazila on Wednesday night.
He was rushed to Kushtia General Hospital, where doctors pronounced him dead after a few hours, Bangladeshi media outlet UNB reported.
Police said one of his hands was nearly severed, while he suffered multiple deep wounds to his abdomen and other parts of the body.
Speaking to UNB, Monayem’s wife, Shilpi Khatun, said, “Today I have become a widow and my children orphans. I want justice for this brutal killing.”
Last week, a human rights organisation documented an alarming rise in killings, political violence and attacks on minority communities across Bangladesh throughout August, alongside a rise in violence against women and children, local media reported.
In its latest monthly review of the country’s human rights situation, Dhaka-based rights group Manabadhikar Shongskriti Foundation (MSF) recorded a 75 per cent rise in deaths linked to violence against women and children in August compared to July, while injuries from political violence increased by 181 per cent.
Expressing grave concern over escalating political violence in August, the report recorded that 267 people were injured in political violence in August compared to 95 in July, an increase of 181 per cent.
The recovery of unidentified bodies also emerged as a major concern in August, with 71 bodies found during the month, compared to 56 in July. Of these, 55 were men, and 14 were women, while the sex and age of two bodies could not be ascertained.
The bodies were mostly recovered from rivers, ponds, roads, railway tracks, beneath bridges, crop fields and abandoned places. Several were reportedly found in disturbing conditions, including with their throats slit, inside sacks, hands and feet tied, or covered in blood.
Warning that the human rights situation in Bangladesh remained alarming, the MSF called for stronger rule of law, an end to mob justice and political violence, safeguards against arbitrary arrests, accountability for custodial abuses, protection of journalists and freedom of expression, and enhanced measures for protection of minorities and marginalised communities.
The organisation demanded prompt, impartial and effective investigations into serious human rights violations, including recovery of unidentified bodies, stressing that perpetrators must be held accountable.
–IANS
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