Hindus in Bangladesh are "living in fear" after a horrific lynching and public burning of a 27-year-old Hindu man for allegedly insulting the Prophet Mohammed.
Warning: This story contains graphic content that some readers may find disturbing.
Since then, three more Hindu men have been killed, with the latest attack occurring on New Year's Eve. There have also been reports of several houses of the minority community being set alight, with the occupants managing to make a lucky escape.
Dipu Chandra Das was a garment factory worker at the Pioneer Knit Composite Factory in Bhaluka, in the country's north. He was accused of blasphemy, with some reports suggesting he had said all gods were equal.
Graphic videos widely shared on social media and local and Indian media, seen by the ABC, show mobs chanting Islamic slogans "Nara-e-Takbeer, Allahu Akbar" [slogan of Allah is greatest], kicking and beating the half-naked unconscious body of the father-of-one outside the factory.
Another gruesome video, which the ABC has seen but chosen not to publish, shows Dipu's naked body hung by the neck from a tree, surrounded by a cheering, dancing mob shouting Allahu Akbar [Allah is greatest], while many take videos from their mobile phones as others set the body alight.
Dipu's father, Robilal Chandra Das, said Dipu's co-workers had framed him out of jealousy and levied false charges against him. Robilal said mobs dragged him to the side of a busy highway where they hung him and set him alight.
An official X handle of the chief adviser of the government of Bangladesh wrote on December 20 that seven men had been arrested in the case of "Mymensingh Hindu youth's beating to death". That figure is now updated to 12.
The government also said, "such acts of violence will be met with the full force of the law … the government remains fully committed to ensuring the safety, dignity, and equal protection of all citizens, regardless of religion, ethnicity, or background."
The government said financial and welfare assistance would be provided to the family of Dipu Chandra Das and that the relevant authorities would remain in close contact with them in the coming period.
However, Dipu's father said more needed to be done and urged the government to arrest the radical mobs and the co-workers.
The family told the ABC when they tried to retrieve Dipu's body from the morgue, local Muslims refused before finally relenting.
"Conducting my son's funeral was the saddest day of my life," Robilal said.
Dressed in widow's white mourning clothes, Dipu's wife, Meghna Rani, could barely speak without crying.
She told the ABC her daughter, Deepika, who is only one and a half years old, still did not know her father's fate.
"She looks out searching for her dad, but she has no clue her dad will never return," Meghana Rani said.
Dipu was the family's only breadwinner. Inside the metal shack they call home are their meagre belongings.
On one wall, among a row of Hindu deities, is the photo of a smiling Dipu taken in happier times. Now it is adorned with a garland of marigold flowers, a Hindu tradition signifying the man is deceased.
Attacks on Hindus worsen ties in fragile region
The spate of attacks on the minority community has heightened tensions in the region, with media reports of both India and Bangladesh shutting their visa services.
India said it was monitoring the situation and condemned the Dipu's killing.
But a member of Pakistan's ruling party warned India that any move against Dhaka would invoke a strong response from Pakistan.
Indian journalist Deep Halder has covered Bangladesh since 2022 and has co-authored two books, Being Hindu in Bangladesh and Inshallah Bangladesh, the story of an unfinished revolution.
He said the brutal and public nature of Dipu's killing was reminiscent of IS or Taliban.
"ISIS flags have been taken out in Dhaka since the fall of the Hasina government. There have been calls for Islamic caliphate," Mr Halder said.
"Thousands of [fundamentalist Islamic organisation] Hizb-ut-Tahrir activists have defied barricades, clashed with cops inside Dhaka during such marches. The Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami has called for the nation to be run by Sharia law.
"For the Hindu minority, there is hardly any hope left. It has to choose between slaughter, conversion and exodus."
A Bangladeshi-Australian, who wanted to hide his identity due to fear of reprisals, said his family in Bangladesh had received threats, with parts of their ancestral home destroyed by mobs. In a letter the ABC has seen, the family was warned of further action.
"My family is very scared. Even the police can't do much as they don't have much power over the extremists," he said.
The man said his family had stopped going out in the evening and did not leave the children alone. He said during a recent wedding in the family, many venues would not allow them to conduct Hindu rituals like ringing bells or blowing conch shells.
"It is a very fearful atmosphere," he said.
"I feel guilty. I am safe here and they are not safe in Bangladesh."
Amal Datta, director, Australian Federation for Ethnic and Religious Minorities in Bangladesh, said he too was scared for family members back home.
"The story of minorities in Bangladesh is not one of occasional violence or sporadic discrimination, but a systemic erasure," Mr Datta said.
"In 1988, a constitutional amendment declared Islam as the state religion. Since then, blasphemy allegations followed by violence, land seizures, forced evictions, temple demolitions, forced conversions and the targeting of indigenous communities have become common."
Hindu man shot dead, houses burnt
Nearly two weeks after Dipu Chandra Das died, another Hindu man, Bajindra Biswas, was shot dead on December 29.
A local Hindu leader, who lives near the factory where Bajindra was killed and did not want his name published due to fears for his safety, said he reached the scene as soon he heard the gunshot.
He said the 40-year-old man, who was part of Bangladesh's paramilitary forces, Ansar, was allegedly killed by a colleague, Noman Mia, over an argument over Dipu's gruesome killing.
Bhaluka Model Police Station officer-in-charge, Humayun Kabir confirmed Ansar member Bajendra was killed by his colleague. He declined to speak further, saying they had handed over the matter to the detective branch.
Bajindra's younger brother, Sujan Biswas, told the ABC the authorities denied there was an argument.
"The authorities said they were both almost playing with the gun and the shot went off accidentally," Sujam said.
"But we find that difficult to believe. It is not that easy for the gun to be fired accidentally as they were both trained to handle it."
Sujan said Bajindra and his wife Konika Rani Biswas had lost two children, but she was now five-months pregnant.
On December 24, another Hindu man, Amrit Mondal, was killed. Local and Indian media say the man was 29 and was set upon by a mob.
There have also been reports of several houses belonging to the Hindu community being set on fire.
Locked inside burning house
Mitun Shil and eight members of his family, including his newly wedded wife of two months, two children aged five and one and a half, were all asleep in their house in Raojan, Chittagong district, in the east of Bangladesh, when they woke to a fire.
The family said they were locked inside the house and had to break the door and lock to escape.
Mitun, who works as a barber in a Dubai saloon, told the ABC they were lucky to escape, with only his father sustaining burns to his hands.
But all their belongings were destroyed.
"Our home has been turned into ashes," he said.
"My visa [for UAE], passport has been destroyed."
Mitun said he found a banner with names, some of which were of Bangladesh's politicians, tied outside his house.
Raojan Police Station officer-in-charge Sajedul Islam said another Hindu community member's home burnt just 10 kilometres away also had a similar banner tied outside.
He said police were investigating both fires.
Bangladeshi Hindus 'living in fear'
Monindra Kumar Nath, acting general secretary of the Bangladesh Hindu, Buddhist, Christian Unity Council, said Hindus were being attacked in every part of the country.
He said seven other houses were burnt in the Chittagong region over two days on December 21 and 23.
And on December 27, four homes were burnt in the Pirojpur district in the south of Bangladesh, with three totally destroyed.
"In Bangladesh, from the beginning there were atrocities on Hindus — harassment, rape," Mr Nath said.
"Buddhists and Christians are also attacked, but major attack are on Hindus."
Mr Nath said in the 1970s, minorities formed 19 per cent of the population, however, the 2022 Bangladesh census showed the total number of minorities had declined to nearly 9 per cent of the population due to "atrocities".
"We are the sons and daughters of Bangladesh, but we are second-class citizens. We are living in fear," he said.
"There is no justice for Hindus."
Mr Nath said since Sheikh Hasina's overthrowing between August and November 2024, there had been 82 killings of Hindus.
But he said the total number of "atrocities", including rape, just in that period was 2,673.
Mr Nath said he knew of another Hindu man, Khokan Chandra Das, 50, who was attacked on New Year's Eve and set on fire. The man died on Saturday morning, local time, his family has confirmed.
Nephew Sourav Das told the ABC attackers had stabbed his uncle with big kitchen knives, drenched him in petrol and set him on fire.
Sourav said his uncle was able to jump into a pond, swim across and reach his family on the far side. Khokan Das was then rushed to hospital, but succumbed to his injuries.
Mr Nath said fundamentalist were creating an environment of intolerance towards non-Muslims. However, he said Hindus belonged in Bangladesh and would not run away.
"I have the strength [to leave], but it is not the solution," Mr Nath said.
"There are two crore [20 million minorities] in Bangadesh, what will be their fate?
"We want proper justice. We want equal rights."
The Bangladesh government was approached for comment, but did not respond before deadline.
