Indigenous Khiyang woman allegedly gang-raped and murdered in remote Bandarban

Our Correspondent,Bandarban

A 30-year-old indigenous woman from the Khiyang community was found murdered in a remote village of Bandarban’s Thanchi upazila on Monday morning , hours after she went missing on her way to work in a jhum field.

Her family alleges she was abducted, raped, and murdered by settlers.

The victim, Chingma Khiyang, a mother of three—including an 16-month-old breastfeeding daughter—left her home around 6:00 AM to transplant paddy in her jhum field.

She failed to return. Several hours later, local residents of remote Mongkhyaw Para stumbled upon her lifeless body in a secluded hillside area, bearing unmistakable signs of a savage and violent assault.

Superintendent of Police Md. Shahidullah Kawsar confirmed the incident.

“Our team visited the location and recovered the body. The autopsy will reveal further details,” he stated.

However, the victim’s family has unequivocally alleged that she was abducted, and murdered in a premeditated act of violence, he added.

Our team is working to arrest the alleged criminals, the SP said.

The incident starkly illuminates the persistent vulnerability of indigenous women in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), a region long subjected to militarization, historical marginalization, and systemic exclusion.