Man dies after being beaten over ‘hurting religious sentiments’

A 30-year-old man was beaten to death by a mob in Satkhira’s Debhata on Tuesday night over allegations that he had hurt religious sentiments, police said yesterday.

The victim was Wahiduzzaman Shamim, son of Shamsur Rahman of Chhota Shanta village in the upazila.

HM Shaheen, officer-in-charge of Debhata Police Station, said an audio clip purportedly containing Shamim’s remarks went viral on social media on Tuesday morning.

That evening, a group of people began beating up Shamim in the Sakhipur area. On information, police rescued Shamim and took him to the local upazila health complex.

Around 9:00pm, another group of people entered the hospital and beat up Shamim again, the OC said. As his condition deteriorated, he was referred to Satkhira Medical College Hospital, where doctors declared him dead around 1:00am yesterday.

Speaking to reporters, Shamim’s elder brother Abdul Jalil said Shamim obtained a master’s degree from Jagannath University.

Jalil claimed that about a year ago, Shamim fell victim to a gang that allegedly drugged and robbed him, locally known as an “Ogyan Party”, while he was returning home from Dhaka. Since then, a change in Shamim’s behaviour had been noticed, he said.

He added that on Tuesday evening, Shamim had attempted to take his own life by ingesting poison at home and had appeared distressed amid threats from people following the circulation of the audio clips.

Later, as family members were taking him to a local doctor, a group of people began beating him in the Sakhipur area, Jalil said, adding that Shamim was attacked again at the upazila health complex.

Arif Billah, an emergency department physician at the facility, said Shamim had multiple serious injuries. When his condition worsened suddenly, he was referred to Satkhira Medical College Hospital.

OC Shaheen said no complaint had been filed with the police station as of about 8:30pm yesterday. “Legal action will be taken if the complaint is lodged.”