Man arrested for murder of Bangladeshi gay activists
Image: Shariful Islam Shihab was arrested for the alleged murder of two gay activists in Bangladesh. Photo: Twitter via @jrossingol
A MAN has been arrested for the violent murder of the editor of Bangladesh’s only LGBTI media publication and another gay activist.
Three weeks ago. LGBTI rights activists Mahbub Tonoy and Xulhaz Mannan were hacked to death by up to six men wielding machetes and guns. Mannan was the editor of Roopbaan, the country’s only LGBTI publication.
Bangladeshi police yesterday arrested Shariful Islam Shihab, 37, for the alleged murder of the two men. Shihab has been linked to extremist Islamic organisation Ansarullah Bangla Team. He has denied carrying out the killings.
Police told AFP that Shihab owned one of the two guns used in the killing.
“We’ve arrested one man in connection with the murder of Xulhaz Mannan,” Dhaka police spokesman Maruf Hossain Sorder said.
Several other fundamentalist Islamic groups tried to claim responsibility for the murders including ISIS and groups linked to al-Qaeda, who said the men were killed because they worked to “promote homosexuality”.
The government has denied any presence of ISIS in Bangladesh and police believe the attack resembled the style of local armed groups.
The deaths follows a string of attacks on bloggers, activists and a Buddhist monk in recent months.
It is commendable that police worked promptly on this case.