In the early hours of last October 11 (Saturday), the body of Anna Rani was recovered by the Salanga police from the bank of a pond next to Islamia High School. The accused, Tapas Das, stated in his confession under section 164 that he strangled Anna to death because she did not agree to an immoral act.
This incident is being circulated on social media with the claim, ‘A 60-year-old Hindu woman, Anna Bala Das, was raped & murdered in Sirajganj, Bangladesh. Her only crime? Being a woman from a minority. Where is the outrage?’
See the post circulated on X (formerly Twitter) here (Archive).
Fact-Check
An investigation by the Rumor Scanner team found that Anna Rani of Sirajganj was not murdered for being a Hindu. In fact, she was killed by a fellow Hindu named Tapas Das. Moreover, Monjit Nandi, the Police Inspector (Investigation) of Salanga Police Station, confirmed that this was not a communal murder.
The investigation found a report published on the website of the national daily Samakal on October 13, titled “Village police officer killed for refusing immoral act“. The report states that in the early hours of October 11 (Saturday), Salanga police recovered the body of Anna Rani, a village police officer of Salanga Union Parishad in Sirajganj, from the bank of a pond next to Islamia High School. In connection with the incident, her daughter Dhrupodi Das filed a murder case at Salanga police station against unidentified persons. Subsequently, the next day (October 12), a person named Tapas Das was arrested by the police from his home at night. Later, in his confession under section 164, Tapas Das stated that he strangled Anna to death because she refused to engage in an immoral act. The accused, Tapas, is the son of Surya Kumar Das of Bhoromohoni Daspara village.
The national dailies Jugantor and Rupali Bangladesh also published news with the same information.
Additionally, the same information was shared in a post from the official Facebook page of the Bangladesh Police.
To further verify the matter, the Rumor Scanner team contacted the Salanga Police Station. Monjit Nandi, the Police Inspector (Investigation) of Salanga Police Station, said, ‘Both the victim and the perpetrator belong to the same community. How does the issue of a communal murder arise here? No one other than Tapas Das is involved in this incident.’
In other words, both the victim and the murderer are of the Hindu faith.
Therefore, the claim that Anna Rani was murdered in Sirajganj for being a Hindu is completely false.
Sources
- Samakal – Village police officer killed for refusing immoral act
- Jugantor – Tapas kills female village police officer for refusing indecent proposal
- Rupali Bangladesh – Female village police officer had to die for refusing indecent proposal
- Bangladesh Police – Facebook Post
- Salanga Thana Police – Statement
