CHAKARIA, Bangladesh — The harassment that Bangladeshi converts from Islam face from Muslim neighbors in Chakaria took a serious turn in November when an attack by about a dozen Muslims left a Christian family with machete wounds.
Confident that no police would side with Christian converts from Islam, the Muslims in Chakaria town, near Cox’s Bazar 236 miles southeast of Dhaka, later filed false charges of assault against the wounded and limping Christians, family members said. Laila Begum, a 45-year-old Christian convert from Islam, said that some 10 to 15 Muslim neighbors demanded $3 U.S.D. Nov. 1.
Begum said she had borrowed $30 last year from a Muslim neighbor and this year paid her back with interest. She told the group of Muslim neighbors that she would pay no more and they began beating her.
“Suddenly they got equipped with sticks, iron rods, knives and machetes,” she said. “Several places of my head were lacerated by machetes and iron rods. They also cut two of my fingers when I tried to fend off their attacks. They beat me in several places of my body by iron rods and sticks.”
The family informed local governing council members about the attack, but they demanded $300 to settle the matter and also threatened them, she said.
“The local council officials also told us that if we file any case in the police station, our houses will be burnt to ashes and we will be evicted from the locality.”
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