Deadly Protests Erupt in Bangladesh Following Alleged Gang-Rape of Indigenous Schoolgirl

The Bangladesh government has implemented a ban on rallies in the affected region.

Dhaka:

Violence erupted in southeastern Bangladesh on Sunday, resulting in at least three fatalities and numerous injuries as clashes intensified between indigenous tribespeople and Bengali settlers. The unrest follows allegations of a tribal schoolgirl's gang rape, despite heightened security measures in the area.

Police confirmed three male casualties without specifying their identities. According to local witnesses, both communities engaged in violent confrontations, burning each other's businesses and homes in Khagrachhari hill district, approximately 270 kilometers northeast of Dhaka.

The conflict stems from the alleged gang rape of an eighth-grade student in Khagrachhari district on Tuesday. This area is one of three hill districts within the Chittagong Hill Tracts that border India and Myanmar. Dhaka's home ministry reported that 13 army personnel and three police officers sustained injuries during the violence.

Initial unrest began in Khagrachhari district headquarters when aboriginal people, predominantly from Chakma and Marma tribes, established roadblocks using burning tires, tree trunks, and bricks on Saturday. This prompted authorities to impose movement restrictions and ban gatherings.

Despite patrols by military, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), and police forces, the violence spread beyond the district center to the Guimara area, 36 kilometers south of Khagrachhari, where the three deaths occurred.

The victim was reportedly attacked while returning from private tutoring and was discovered unconscious in an isolated area of the town around midnight by her parents and neighbors.

After receiving treatment at a local hospital, police arrested a Bengali teenager with military assistance. The suspect, believed to be one of the perpetrators, is currently under interrogation during a court-ordered six-day remand.

On Saturday, district authorities enforced Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), prohibiting organized movements and rallies in Khagrachhari district headquarters and surrounding townships. However, these restrictions largely failed to subdue the unrest.

Police Deputy Inspector General Ahsan Habib informed reporters that "Three people were killed in gunshots at Guimara. Their bodies have been kept at Khagrachhari Sadar Hospital."

A local journalist contacted by PTI confirmed that hospital doctors had received the bodies but declined to identify whether the deceased were ethnic minorities or Bengalis.

"The authorities have enforced Section 144, but a curfew-like situation prevails at Khagrachhari town as people preferred to stay indoors fearing outbreak of escalating violence," senior journalist Jiten Barua told PTI.

A Sunday evening statement from the home ministry in Dhaka expressed regret over the casualties and committed to legal action against those responsible following an "immediate investigation," adding that "no criminals will be spared" while urging everyone to remain calm and patient.

The district administration has prohibited rallies and restricted organized movements.

Muhammad Yunus' interim government imposed a temporary ban on tourists in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) in October last year amid sectarian tensions between local ethnic minority communities and Bengali settlers.

The CHT region experienced a two-decade insurgency until a peace agreement was established in 1997.

The area is home to over a dozen predominantly Buddhist ethnic minority groups.

The 1997 peace accord between then-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government (now ousted) and the Parbatya Chattogram Jana Sanghati Samity (PJJSS) ended the insurgency over regional autonomy for the hill people.

However, sporadic unrest has continued, largely due to conflicts among various breakaway factions of tribal groups, including PCJSS and the United Peoples Democratic Front (UPDF), a political party based in the CHT.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)