[2][3][4] Not much is known of her early life apart from that she was born in a Bengali Mahishya family of village Hogla, near Tamluk in 1869,[5] and that because she was the daughter of a poor peasant, she did not receive a formal education.

[2] As part of the Quit India Movement, members of the Congress planned to take over the various police stations of Medinipore district and other government offices.

Hazra, who was 72 years at the time, led a procession of six thousand supporters, mostly women volunteers, with the purpose of taking over the Tamluk police station.

The Biplabi newspaper of the parallel Tamluk National Government commented: Matangini led one procession from the north of the criminal court building; even after the firing commenced, she continued to advance with the tri-colour flag, leaving all the volunteers behind.

[2][6][10][11][12] The parallel Tamluk Government (Tamralipta Jatiya Sarkar) incited open rebellion by praising her "martyrdom for her country" and was able to function for two more years, until it was disbanded in 1944, at Gandhi's request.

In 2015, the Shahid Matangini Hazra Government College for Women was established in Tamluk, Purba Medinipur, after this very well-known revolutionary figure.