A young girl crossed into India from Bangladesh late Tuesday night to escape danger and reached the Fatehpur Border Out Post, which is under the 17th Battalion of the BSF in Kishanganj, West Bengal. The soldiers were surprised to see her and asked her for her name and address.

The border patrol stationed at the Fatehpur BOP in Chopra block, West Bengal’s Uttar Dinajpur, detained the 17-year-old girl. She was then handed over to the Chopra police station.

A police officer from Chopra station said, "The girl has relatives in Jalpaiguri district. We’ve reached out to them and are trying to figure out why she crossed the border, how she managed it, and who assisted her in doing so."

The minor’s family, living in the Panchagarh district of Bangladesh, is connected with ISKCON. Her maternal grandfather shared that miscreants in Bangladesh have been threatening families affiliated with ISKCON, including plans to kidnap their daughters. With no other choice, the young girl was forced to flee to India.

One of the relatives of the girl said “They are devotees of ISKCON. Fundamentalists have threatened to kidnap her and murder the entire family. They were planning to send her here. She was about to come to India but we had no confirmation about the date.”

He added, that the minor’s father is paralysed and her mother is unwell. Both were extremely worried about their daughter’s safety, so they decided to send her away. However, he couldn’t explain how she managed to make her way to India.

Recalling incidents of rape and murder targeting individuals associated with ISKCON, they urged the Indian government to intervene immediately and ensure the safety of Hindus in Bangladesh.

The girl was on her way to a relative's house in Belakoba, Jalpaiguri. The police contacted her relatives and asked them to come to the Chopra police station that night. After questioning her, senior police and BSF officers started legal action. 

The District Child Welfare Association made arrangements to safely send the girl back home. In response to the incident, ISKCON Kolkata Vice President Radaramn Das appealed to Union Home Minister Amit Shah for intervention.

Das posted on X, “It is heartbreaking and deeply distressing to learn about a minor girl from Bangladesh who, in sheer desperation, tried to cross into India alone, only to be arrested by the BSF and placed in juvenile custody.”

Bangladesh has been facing unrest since November 25, when Hindu monk Chinmoy Krishna Das was arrested in Dhaka. Since the formation of the new government, there have been several incidents of atrocities targeting minority Hindus in the country.