DHAKA // A brawl broke out between villagers in eastern Bangladesh arguing over the plot of an Indian fantasy television serial, injuring 100 people, police said Friday.

The villagers gathered at a restaurant in Habiganj district on Wednesday to watch Kiranmala, a Bengali-language show about a warrior princess who saves mankind from evil, when the row erupted. As the dispute escalated, police had to fire rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse the crowd. Angry viewers vandalised the restaurant in Dhol village, 176 kilometres north-east of Dhaka, and attacked each other with sticks and knives and the fight carried on into the next morning.

“Two men got involved into an argument over the story of the episode, which later turned into a group skirmish,” said police chief Yasinul Haque.

The brawl left at least 100 people injured, with 15 needing hospital treatment.

Kiranmala, which is broadcast from Monday to Saturday, is the top soap opera in Bengal and depicts the princess of the same name defeating the evil demon queen Katkati and saving her kingdom as well as the human race.

Several Bangladeshis blasted the government on social media for allowing the broadcast of Indian television channels which they claimed “spread degenerate culture” in the Muslim-majority nation.

“It is very sad we are fighting over mere acting. Channels should be filtered,” Facebook user Aminur Rahman wrote.

Three suicides of young women have been linked to watching Kiranmala in the past year, according to Bangladeshi media, after their parents reportedly refused to buy them an expensive dress worn by the princess.

* Agence France-Presse