The murder of Shila
She fought for the rights of the Hijras in Bangladesh. Then Shila was murdered in her own home.
On 3 February 2025, neighbours in Betbunia, a town in Rangamati district in south-eastern Bangladesh, break open the door of a small rented house. Nobody has seen the occupant all day. On the bed they find Shila, her throat cut and stab wounds to her stomach. The police assume she was killed the night before. At around eleven o'clock, residents had seen five people enter her house.
Shila came from Hathazari near Chattogram and lived alone. She belonged to the Hijras, the centuries-old community of trans and intersex people in South Asia, and was regarded as a leader of her community in the region. For years she campaigned for their rights, health and safety.
Human rights organisations speak of a targeted execution and, because of the brutality of the crime, suspect religious extremists. This has not been proven.
The murder came at a turbulent time. After the fall of the Hasina government in the summer of 2024, an interim government led the country, and the situation became noticeably more dangerous for queer people. The organisation JusticeMakers Bangladesh in France counted two hundred and sixty documented attacks on LGBTQI+ people in 2025, far more than in previous years. Trans and gender-diverse people were hit most often. The list ranges from extortion and arbitrary arrests to arson attacks and murder.
On paper, Bangladesh almost seems progressive: since 2013, the state has officially recognised Hijras as a separate gender. In everyday life, however, this recognition offers little protection. Same-sex acts remain criminal under the colonial Section 377, and there is no comprehensive ban on discrimination. Many victims do not report crimes for fear of reprisals.
Shila's name is now on the memorial lists of Transgender Day of Remembrance. No conviction of the perpetrators is known.