Dhaka — 25 April 2016 (local time): Xulhaz Mannan, 35, a co-founder of Roopbaan—Bangladesh’s first LGBT magazine—and a USAID staffer, was hacked to death along with a friend inside his Kalabagan apartment by a group who posed as courier staff to gain entry, Dhaka police said. Witnesses and police reported that about six assailants entered the building; a security guard was also attacked when he rushed toward the scene. Two other people were seriously injured.
Police and rights groups identified the second victim as theatre activist Mahbub Rabbi Tonoy (some outlets reported the name as Tanay Mojumdar). The attack method—assailants carrying a box and claiming to be from a courier company—was described by the local officer in charge, Mohammad Iqbal.
The killings drew swift condemnation. Then-US ambassador Marcia Bernicat called the murders “brutal,” urging Bangladeshi authorities to apprehend those responsible “in the strongest terms.” Amnesty International said authorities must urgently protect threatened members of civil society and bring the killers to justice.
The extremist group Ansar al-Islam, an al-Qaeda affiliate, later claimed responsibility, saying the pair were targeted for “promoting homosexuality.” The murders came amid a wider wave of machete attacks on writers and academics, occurring just two days after English professor Rezaul Karim Siddique was killed in Rajshahi and weeks after blogger Nazimuddin Samad was slain in Dhaka.
Mannan helped launch Roopbaan in 2014 to foster acceptance of LGBT communities in Bangladesh and was involved in organizing Dhaka’s annual “Rainbow Rally” on 14 April (Bengali New Year), which police cancelled that year. Same-sex relations remain criminalized in Bangladesh, contributing to heightened risks for LGBT activists, many of whom have fled or gone into hiding.
Source:
The Guardian — “Founder of Bangladesh’s first and only LGBT magazine killed” (Apr 25, 2016). The Guardian
BBC News — “Bangladesh gay activist killing claimed by al-Qaeda affiliate” (Apr 26, 2016). BBC
Front Line Defenders — “Case History: Xulhaz Mannan” (Apr 27, 2016). frontlinedefenders.org