Gaibandha Correspondent

A local union parishad chairman allegedly beat a Santal woman yesterday morning and later his followers burnt down her house in Gaibandha’s Gobindaganj upazila over a land dispute.

The recent violence was a result of a long-standing land dispute between the local Santals and Rajahar union parishad chairman, Rafiqul Islam (a former BNP leader) under Gobindaganj upazila.

The injured Santal woman, Philomena Hansda, 55, is currently undergoing treatment at the Bogura Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College Hospital (SZMCH), informed her family and locals.

Philomena Hansda’s son British Soren, 35, told This correspondent, “Yesterday morning, around 10:00am, the ancestral land of the Santals near our village, which Bengalees had occupied using false documents, was being earth-filled by the union chairman, Rafiqul Islam.”

He said that some Santal youths from our village went to protest. “During that time, the chairman’s men beat up my cousin Nicholas Murmu in front of the chairman. When I heard about the incident, I went to the chairman to protest, but he came with a bamboo stick to beat me. Seeing this my mother went to grab the chairman’s stick, but he slapped my mother in the ear.”

As a result, British Soren said, his mother fell to the ground and blood started flowing from her ear.

“Around 11:30am, my brothers took my mother to the local upazila health complex, where doctors referred her to the Bogura hospital.

It was there that British Soren and his brother heard the news that their house had been set on fire. Later, the fire service officials came and extinguished the fire, but that house had burnt down by then, British Soren added.

When contacted, the Rajahar chairman, Rafiqul Islam, denied allegations and told This correspondent (on mobile) that he had bought 16 decimals from a local Bengalee 10-12 years ago. “When we went to earth-fill the land yesterday, some Santal youths including British Soren, came to stop us,” claimed Rafiqul, also alleging that the Santal youths were drunk. “I have the documents, and the land is also registered in my name,” said Rafiqul. He also said he had not beaten Philomena.

However, the Santals claim that the local Bengalees have occupied this land with fake documents.

Philemon Baske, president of the Sahebganj-Bagda-Farm Bhumi-Uddhar Sangram Committee told This correspondent, “Earlier, there were many Santal families in Rajabirat village. However, since independence, about 250 bighas of their land have been occupied by local Bengalees in various ways. Because of this, many Santal families have moved to other places from Rajabirat village.”

“We will hold a protest rally against assaulting a woman and burning their house. Now we are going to the spot of occurrence for an inspection. Later, we will go to the police station,” said Philemon Baske.

When asked about the arson, Rafiqul said, “I do not know who set the house on fire. At that time, I was at the police station to meet the OC.”

However, speaking to two local witnesses, it was learned that the chairman himself had scuffled with the Santal woman in the morning and beaten up Philomena.

When asked about the matter, Bulbul Islam, Officer-in-Charge (OC) of the Gobindaganj Police Station, told this correspondent, “I have sent one of my officers there to investigate the matter. I heard that there was a land dispute. A Santal woman was slapped on the ear by the chairman. But no one saw who set the house on fire at night. We will investigate the matter and take action. No matter who the chairman is, there,” said the OC.