Hindu Female NGO Worker’s Suicide Misrepresented as Communal Murder in Chattogram

Recently, claims have circulated on social media alleging that a Hindu woman named Shukla Dey Tikli was murdered in Boalkhali, Chattogram.

See such posts circulated on X here (Archive), here (Archive), and here (Archive).

See similar posts circulated on Facebook here (Archive), here (Archive), and here (Archive).

Fact-check

Rumor Scanner’s investigation has found that the claim of Shukla Dey Tikli, a Hindu NGO worker, being murdered in Boalkhali, Chattogram, is inaccurate. The incident is unrelated to communal tensions. Instead, her death, resulting from suicide due to mental stress, is being falsely portrayed as a communal murder.

Inquiries into the claim led to a report published on January 6 by Jamuna Television, titled “Female NGO Worker’s Dead Body Recovered in Chattogram” (source available here).

Comparison: Rumor Scanner. 

Upon reviewing the report, the photo used in the circulated claim was found to match the image featured in the Jamuna TV report. The report also confirmed the woman’s name as Shukla Dey, identifying her as a fieldworker at Rupsha Comprehensive Village Development Cooperative Society Limited. On the night of January 4, police recovered her body from her residence in Palpara, Sripur-Kharandwip Union, Boalkhali Upazila. Her relatives reported that pressure from the organization to collect loan installments drove her to take her own life out of despair.

Shukla’s husband, Sidul Pal, subsequently filed a case against four officials of the organization, accusing them of abetment to suicide. In the case statement, he alleged that Shukla joined the Kanungopara branch of the organization as a fieldworker in May 2023. The organization disburses microloans to local people. Since August 5, loan recoveries had slowed, leading to disputes between Shukla and the organization’s officials over the past few months.

The organization deducted unpaid loan installments from Shukla’s monthly salary in November. The case further alleges that Shukla died by suicide due to mental stress and harassment faced while attempting to recover loan installments.

Further investigation uncovered a report on the same incident, published on Independent Television’s YouTube channel (available here), which corroborates these findings.

Conclusion

The suicide of NGO worker Shukla Dey is being portrayed online as a communal murder, which is misleading.

References

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