Three killed, dozens injured in central Bangladesh village clash

At least three people were killed and dozens injured in a clash between police and locals protesting the torture of a woman and her son in a village in central Bangladesh on Friday night.

"We've come to know that three people have died from injuries suffered in the clashes," a senior police officer told Xinhua from Tangail, some 92 km northwest of capital Dhaka.

The clash erupted as a group of villagers blocked the highway in protest against the reported rape of a woman in front of her son.

Shahidul Islam, officer-in-charge of Tangail's Kalihati Police Station, told journalists that a group of villagers attacked police, prompting them to open fire.

But he claimed none was killed in police firing.

"They might have been killed as the villagers were divided over the torture of the woman and her son and clashed one group with another Thursday evening before police intervenes into the matter, " he claimed. Endi