Man jailed for 10 years for ‘blasphemous’ Facebook post that sparked violence in 2017

The lawyer for Titu Roy says the convict could not have written the post because he is illiterate

The Rangpur Cyber Tribunal has sentenced a man to 10 years in prison for a “blasphemous” Facebook post that sparked violent attacks on Hindus in the district in 2017.

Judge Abdul Mazid pronounced the sentence on Wednesday in the presence of the convict, Titu Roy, 35, in the case started under the ICT Act, Public Prosecutor Ruhul Amin Talukder said.

Titu was also fined Tk 50,000. He will have to be in jail for five more months if he fails to pay the fines.

Derogatory comments on Prophet Muhammad were posted from a Facebook account “Md Titu” on Oct 28, 2017.

Thousands of angry Muslims in Titu’s village Harkali Thakurpara in Rangpur’s Gangachara demonstrated at the local marketplace before attacking his home and other Hindu families in the neighbourhood.

A young man died in clashes with police during the arson attacks.

Separate cases were filed over the attacks and the Facebook post.

Prashanta Kumar Roy, the lawyer for Titu, said forensic tests could not find evidence that the post was written on Titu’s mobile phone.

“And it’s impossible for an illiterate person to open a fake ID and spread such a post,” Prashanta said, adding they will challenge the verdict at the HIgh Court.