DHAKA, Bangladesh, April 25 (UPI) — A gay rights advocate who became the senior editor of Bangladesh’s first LGBT magazine was hacked to death along with another person on Monday.
Julhas Mannan and his friend Tanay Mojumdar were killed in an apartment in Dhaka, the Bangladeshi capital, where another person was injured. Mannan, 35, worked as the editor of the LGBT Roopbaan magazine. He previously worked at the U.S. Embassy, BBC News reports.
The Roopbaan received support from foreign embassies and was not condemned by the government. Staff worked to protect their identities and did not believe their lives were at risk. The attackers reportedly entered the apartment disguised as courier company officials.
The attack comes after Saturday’s killing of Rezaul Karim Siddique, an English professor in Bangladesh who was hacked to death by machete-wielding attackers while on his way to work at a local university.
Authorities are investigating whether the Saturday morning slaying was related to a string of similar attacks by fundamentalist Islamic organization Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh targeting atheist bloggers.
The U.S. State Department earlier said it is considering granting refuge to select Bangladeshi bloggers thought to be in “imminent danger” after 26-year-old Bangladeshi law student Nazimuddin Samad was killed at a crowded intersection in a similar attack.
