Dhaka, Jan 2 (IANS) A leading human rights organisation in Bangladesh has expressed its concerns over escalating violence across the country in 2025, including political and electoral violence, mob attacks and lynchings, harassment of journalists, extrajudicial killings, and violence against women and children.
In its latest report, Dhaka-based Human Rights Support Society (HRSS) revealed that at least 168 people were killed and 248 injured in 292 incidents of mob violence and lynching, sparked by allegations of theft, robbery, snatching, dominance assertion, and alleged religious defamation.
As per the findings, the report documented that 133 people died and 7,511 were injured in 914 incidents of political violence nationwide last year. This violence, the report said, was fueled by struggles for political dominance, retaliatory attacks, rally-related clashes, disputes over committee formation, election-related violence, extortion, and occupancy conflicts. In the run-up to the 13th national parliamentary election in February, 54 incidents of election resulted in three deaths and 494 injuries, Bangladeshi Bengali daily Bonik Barta reported.
Meanwhile, journalists across Bangladesh faced unprecedented violence in 2025, with 539 killed, injured, assaulted, or harassed in 318 incidents. Of these, three journalists were killed, 273 were injured, 57 were assaulted, 83 were threatened, and 17 were arrested, while 107 journalists were accused in 34 cases.
The HRSS further expressed concern over extrajudicial killings and deaths in police custody and prisons across Bangladesh. The report revealed that 40 people were killed in operations conducted by law enforcement agencies in 2025. Additionally, 10 people died while fleeing police or due to illness, and another 92 people, including 30 convicts and 62 undertrial detainees, died in jail custody due to illness, suicide, or torture.
Highlighting atrocities against women in Bangladesh, the report documented that 2,047 women and girls were subjected to violence in 2025. Among the victims, 828 were raped, including 474 children, while 179 fell victim to gang rape and 28 women were murdered after rape. The violence against women also claimed 10 lives by suicide. Additionally, 414 women faced sexual harassment, 35 were killed due to dowry-related violence, and 383 died as a result of domestic abuse. Among children, 1,371 suffered abuse, with 288 fatalities.
HRSS Executive Director Ijajul Islam called for coordinated efforts by the Bangladeshi authorities and society to reinforce the rule of law, democratic processes, and human rights protections.
"Without addressing mob violence, custodial deaths, political tension, election-related violence, and restrictions on free expression, the human rights situation could deteriorate further," Bangladesh’s leading newspaper, The Business Standard, quoted him as saying.
Bangladesh has been witnessing a surge in violence and a deteriorating law and order situation since the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government assumed power.
--IANS
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