By 
Amrit K. Tamber | Bangladesh Genocide Recognition Campaign
Candlelight vigil held by protestors. Source: ©Nahmad Hassan/Pexels, 2024
Activists from women’s rights groups and progressive student alliances gathered in Dhaka on May 6th, 2025, to protest the brutal killing of a 29-year-old Khiyang woman in Bandarban. The demonstrators condemned both the government’s failure to protect indigenous women in the Chittagong Hill Tracts and the crime of the murder of the mother of three. They demanded the immediate arrest of all suspects with a simultaneous establishment of an impartial investigative committee that would also enhance state mechanisms to ensure justice and safety.
The victim, a member of the Khiyang ethnic minority, was reportedly abducted, gang raped and murdered. Following her husband’s missing persons report, her body was discovered in a remote area days after she went missing. Activists argue that this is not an isolated incident but part of a broader pattern of systemic neglect, marginalisation of indigenous women in militarised and underdeveloped regions, and sexual violence (Amnesty International, 2013).
Protestors further criticised the structural impunities which shield perpetrators from accountability who are often linked to local power holders such as law enforcement or government officials. They urge the state to implement urgent legal reforms to engage directly with indigenous communities to co-develop culturally appropriate protective policies.
This case has reignited conversations across Bangladesh regarding discourse on ethnic and gender justice, with human rights and women groups warning that without institutional reform, indigenous women will continue to be disproportionately exposed to extreme violence and silenced from seeking redress.
Sources and Further Reading:
Amnesty International. (2013). Pushed to the edge: Indigenous rights denied in Bangladesh’s Chittagong Hill Tracts. https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/asa13/005/2013/en/
Nutshell Today [@nutshell_today]. (2025, May 6). Women and student organizations protest the alleged gang rape and murder of a Khiyang woman in Bandarban. [Photo]. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/DI8OZhSRKZi/
The Business Standard. (2025, May 6). Women, student orgs protest ‘gang-rape, murder’ of Khiyang woman in Bandarban. https://www.tbsnews.net/bangladesh/women-student-orgs-protest-gang-rape-murder-khiyang-woman-bandarban-1135541
The Daily Star – Bandarban Correspondent. (2025, May 6). Death of Khyang woman: Husband files rape and murder case. https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/crime-justice/news/death-khyang-woman-husband-files-rape-and-murder-case-3888361
