Bangladeshi Blogger Hacked To Death; 2 Alleged Attackers Arrested

By Krishnadev Calamur / NPR

Published March 30, 2015 at 5:08 AM PDT

This story was published more than 9 years ago.

Shilpi, a cousin of Bangladeshi blogger Washiqur Rahman, is seen outside a morgue at the Dhaka Medical College in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on Monday. The blogger was hacked to death this morning by three men in the capital, police said.

A Bangladeshi blogger has been hacked to death in the country's capital, Dhaka, and police have arrested two students at an Islamic seminary in connection with the slaying. Washiqur Rahman's killing comes a month after a deadly attack on another blogger in the capital by Islamists.

Rahman, 26, was attacked at 9 a.m. (local time) by three men who used meat cleavers, a local police official told the Dhaka Tribune. He was taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital where he was declared dead on arrival, the newspaper reported.

The newspaper said Rahman was apparently targeted for his writings about Islam. Two of his alleged attackers were arrested, and a third suspect fled.

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The Tribune reported that Rahman's Facebook page contained posts that opposed what he called irrational religious belief. It said one of the Facebook groups he belonged to was called Atheist Bangladesh.

Rahman had apparently expressed solidarity on Facebook with Avijit Roy, the Bangladeshi-American blogger who was hacked to death Feb. 27 in Dhaka for "crime[s] against Islam." On Facebook, Rahman had posted #iamavijit after Roy's killing.

Blogger Rajeeb Haider was hacked to death on Feb. 15, 2013, for apparently the same reason.

Muslims make up about 90 percent of the country's 166 million people.