281 Deaths Reported in Post-Hasina Bangladesh: Political Violence Continues According to Human Rights Group

Sheikh Hasina has been residing in exile in India since her escape from Bangladesh on August 5 last year.

Bangladesh:

According to the country's primary human rights organization, almost 300 individuals have perished in political violence across Bangladesh during the year following the student-led demonstrations that overthrew former autocratic leader Sheikh Hasina.

A report published by Odhikar, a Dhaka-based rights group, indicated that at least 281 people were killed in violence involving political parties from August 2024, when Hasina's rule ended and she sought refuge in India, through September 2025.

In addition to these casualties, the quarterly report released last week documented 40 victims of extrajudicial killings who had been suspected of crimes, while another 153 people were lynched.

Odhikar director ASM Nasiruddin Elan stated that human rights conditions had improved since the collapse of Hasina's government, however law enforcement agencies were still not being held accountable.

"Indeed, we no longer witness the frequent extrajudicial killings or enforced disappearances that characterized the Hasina era, but deaths in custody, bribery, and harassment of victims continue to occur," Elan informed AFP.

He mentioned that "innocent people become victims of atrocities" due to their alleged connections with the Awami League, Hasina's political party that is now prohibited.

Hasina's 15-year leadership was marked by widespread human rights abuses, including mass detention and extrajudicial killing of her political opponents.

The Odhikar report also revealed that many individuals had fallen victim to extortion by political parties, regardless of their financial or social status, in the year following Hasina's downfall.

These included the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, considered the frontrunner in elections scheduled for February 2026, and the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, which was credited with initiating the protests that toppled Hasina.

Jamaat-e-Islami, the largest Islamist party in Muslim-majority Bangladesh, was also mentioned in reports of extortion, according to the report.

Odhikar further noted that mob attacks had been relatively common during this period, primarily due to ineffective policing.

"Police have been utilized to achieve party interests and were granted impunity, which eventually led them to kill and torture activists affiliated with the opposition," the report stated.

It mentioned that "the police largely became dysfunctional and lost their morale" following Hasina's fall.

Neither Bangladesh's interim government nor any of the political parties have yet responded to Odhikar's report.