Two killed in religious unrest in Bangladesh

Toll at 6 after death of two Hindu men

Muslims participate in a protest over an alleged insult to Islam, outside the country’s main Baitul Mukarram Mosque in Dhaka, Bangladesh on October 16, 2021.

Two Hindu men have been killed in fresh religious violence in Bangladesh, police officials said on Saturday, taking the death toll to six from recent unrest in the Muslim-majority country.

Protests began on Wednesday after footage emerged of a Koran being placed on the knee of a Hindu god during celebrations for the Hindu festival Durga Puja. The minority community make up about 10% of the population.

Police said the latest violence occurred in the southern town of Begumganj when hundreds of Muslims formed a street procession after Friday prayers on the final day of Durga Puja.

More than 200 protesters attacked a temple where members of the Hindu community were preparing to perform the last rites of the 10-day festival, local police station chief said. The attackers beat and stabbed to death an executive member of the temple committee.

On Saturday morning, another Hindu man's body was found near a pond next to the temple, district police chief Shahidul Islam said.