(Image: Mannan, left/Facebook)
Update (4/26, 9:50 a.m.): The Washington Post reported Tuesday morning that an al-Qaeda affiliate has claimed responsibility for the grisly murder of two employees of an LGBT magazine in Bangladesh this week:
A Bangladesh-based militant faction linked to al-Qaeda claimed responsibility Tuesday for hacking to death two men, one of whom was a gay rights activist and employee for a U.S. government aid program.
A statement from the militant group Ansar al-Islam said it killed the two men — Xulhaz Mannan, editor of Bangladesh's only LGBT magazine, and his friend Tanay Mojumder — because they were “pioneers of practicing and promoting homosexuality in Bangladesh,” the Associated Press reported.
Original Story: Police in Bangladesh have said that two men were “hacked to death” by the radical Islamic terrorist group ISIS.
One of the men, Xulhaz Mannan, was the editor for the only LGBT magazine in the country, Roopbaan. The magazine was named after the Bengali folk character, Roopbaan, who represented the power of love.
According to the BBC, the Islamic State is claiming responsibility for the murders, but the Bengali government is insisting that there is no Islamic State presence in their country.
Mannan also worked at the U.S. Embassy in Bangladesh alongside U.S. Ambassador Marcia Bernicat, who condemned the murder:
I am devastated by the brutal murder of Xulhaz Mannan and another young Bangladeshi. We abhor this senseless act of violence and urge the government of Bangladesh in the strongest terms to apprehend the criminals behind these murders.
BBC Bengali Service Editor Sabir Mustafa also reported that suspected terrorists are growing more comfortable in carrying out killings in Bangladesh without fear of reprisal.
The other victim also worked at Roopbaan magazine.
Tanay Mojumdar worked at the magazine with the hope of spreading tolerance toward the LGBT community in the region. It is illegal to be a homosexual in Bangladesh, according to the penal code under “Unnatural Offences,” which states:
377. Whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal, shall be punished with 132 [imprisonment] for life, or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine. Explanation. Penetration is sufficient to constitute the carnal intercourse necessary to the offence described in this section.
A man only known as a “British photographer” commented on the state of affairs for the LGBT community in Bangladesh, saying, “Until a year ago the only threat to coming out was shame of the family and having to start a new life elsewhere in Bangladesh. Now it's one of danger.”