Mass brawl over Bangladeshi fantasy TV show leaves 100 villagers injured

A mass brawl broke out in a Bangladeshi village over the plot of a popular Bengali TV show in which at least 100 people were hurt.

Villagers had converged on a restaurant in Dhol village in Habiganj, north east Bangladesh, to watch the programme, called Kiranmala.

An argument broke out leading to angry viewers vandalising the restaurant and fighting each other with knives and sticks.

To disperse the crowd, police were forced to use rubber bullets and tear gas. Of the 100 injured, 15 required hospital treatment.

Explaining how the fight broke out on Wednesday, police chief Yasinul Haque told AFP: "Two men got involved into an argument over the story of the episode, which later turned into a group skirmish.

"During the fight, the angry mob vandalised the restaurant and continued the fight on Thursday morning."

The show follows the adventures of Princess Kiranmala as she tries to save her kingdom and humanity in general by defeating the wicked demon queen Katkati.

Over the past year, the suicides of three young women have been linked to the show by local media.

According to reports, the women's parents refused to buy them a dress worn by Princess Kiranmala in the show.