A quiet afternoon in Shahapur village in Tala of Satkhira turned into a scene of horror and vengeance on Sunday, July 20, at around 2:30pm.
A mentally unstable young man, Raju Gazi, 36, was killed in a mob lynching moments after he fatally attacked Shariful Gazi, 38, a teacher at Shahapur Madrasa, with a sharp weapon causing his death.
The double tragedy has left the close-knit community reeling, exposing raw tensions and raising questions about mob justice in Bangladesh’s rural heartlands.
According to locals, Raju Gazi, known to struggle with mental health issues, lured Shariful Gazi, son of the late Maulana Alimuddin Gazi from Harihar village, to the front of the madrasa under a pretext. Without warning, Raju unleashed a frenzied attack, hacking Shariful with a sharp weapon – believed to be a machete.
Shariful, an educator in the village, succumbed to his injuries on the spot, his blood staining the ground where he once taught.
Enraged by the brutal killing, a crowd of villagers swiftly apprehended Raju, son of Mustafa alias Khokon Gazi from the same village.
In a surge of fury, they beat him mercilessly, and he too died at the scene. The rapid escalation, from murder to mob justice, unfolded in minutes, leaving two families shattered and the village in shock.
SM Liaquat Hossain, former chairman of Kheshra union council, recounted the chaos to Jago News: “Raju called Shariful to the madrasa’s entrance and attacked him out of nowhere. The locals acted instinctively, but the outcome is tragic for both families.”
He noted Raju’s mental instability, a detail echoed by villagers who described him as erratic but not previously violent. The loss of Shariful, a dedicated teacher shaping young minds, has deepened the community’s grief.
Tala police station Officer-in-Charge Md Mainuddin confirmed that authorities inspected the scene and are preparing to send both bodies to Satkhira General Hospital’s morgue for autopsy.
“We’re investigating the circumstances and will provide details soon,” he told Jago News.
The police face the delicate task of unravelling the motives behind Raju’s attack and addressing the mob’s actions, which reflect a broader pattern of vigilante justice in rural Bangladesh.