Assailants of Xulhaz Mannan targeted head to ensure immediate death, say officials

Gay-rights activist Xulhaz Mannan and his friend theatre activist Mahbub Rabbi Tonoy have been murdered in the same manner secular bloggers and online activists were killed in the recent past in Bangladesh.

Xulhaz Mannan Xulhaz Mannan

Mahbub Rabbi Tonoy Mahbub Rabbi Tonoy

Xulhaz Mannan, a programme officer for the USAID, was an assistant protocol officer at the US embassy in Dhaka. Xulhaz Mannan, a programme officer for the USAID, was an assistant protocol officer at the US embassy in Dhaka.

Police said the machete-wielding attackers targeted their heads, leaving both of them dead on the spot.

“Assailants hacked them on the neck, chin and the head to ensure their death. Both of them died on the spot,” said Sub Inspector Ansar Ali, who conducted the initial assessment of the bodies.

Xulhaz Mannan and Mahbub Rabbi Tonoy

According to his report, there were two six-inch long wounds on the back of Xulhaz’s head and on his face. Slash wounds were found on other areas of the head.

A deep cut wound was found on his left hand, which suggests retaliation by the LGBT rights activist.

Xulhaz Mannan, a programme officer with the USAID, used to edit Bangladesh’s first LGBT magazine ‘Roopbaan’.

He was hacked to death along with his friend, a theatre activist Mahbub Rabbi Tonoy inside his apartment at Dhaka’s Kalabagan.

A one-foot long and four inches deep slash wound stretching from the head to the back was found on Tonoy’s body.

Another five-inch long wound was found on the top of his head, which cracked open the skull, says the police report.

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