Human rights activists protest Bangladesh trans murder

Colin Stewart is a 45-year journalism veteran living in Southern…

Bangladeshi human rights organizations have expressed grave concern over the murder of a trans man in eastern Bangladesh. Police have arrested six suspects.

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In Bangladesh, homosexuality is punishable by up to life in prison. Its anti-gay law — Section 377 of the penal code — is a holdover from when Bangladesh was a part of the British Empire. (Map courtesy of GISgeography.com)

In a joint press statement on Sept. 27, the Bangladesh Institute of Human Rights (BIHR) and JusticeMakers Bangladesh urged police to investigate the crime, “arrest all the culprits” and promptly bring them to trial.

The victim was Tushar Mia, age 20, who identified as hijra (third gender) /transgender and associated with the local hijra community.

Attorney Shahanur Islam, secretary general of BIHR, said that police have now arrested six suspects.

The two organizations’ joint statement described Tushar as a “young homosexual transgender man”. Shahanur Islam explained that in Bengali, Tushar would use the non-gerndered pronoun “se” because the language has no equivalent of “he” or “she”. In their press release, the organizations used the pronoun “he” for Tushar.

Police found Tushar’s body in an open area near city’s Subhanighat vegetable market in the early morning of Sept. 25.

**The city of Sylhet is in northeastern Bangladesh. (Map courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)**

His family said that he had gone out with transgender friends the previous night.

Shahnur said the murder was not an isolated incident in Bangladesh. Abuses and discrimination against LGBT people, including transgender people, are widespread throughout the country, he said.

Nations with anti-LGBT laws: 50% Muslim, 44% Christian

The government of Bangladesh has recognized transgender hijras as a third gender and has made some effort to rehabilitate them as members of society. But those efforts have not been enough, Shahanur said.

For example, despite support from his family, Tushar’s education ended with primary school; he was not granted admission to secondary school.

In addition to improving the lives of its hajira citizens, Shahanur urged Bangladesh to repeal anti-LGBT Section 377 of the Bangladesh Penal Code, which provides for up to a life sentence for “unnatural offenses”, defined as “carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal”.

TRIGGER WARNING

Police said Tushar apparently was killed by hanging. Signs of a noose are visible around his neck in a photo of Tushar’s body that is difficult to look at. Police found evidence of a scuffle where the body was found.