Avijit Roy murder: Mukto-Mona blogger killed in Bangladesh

Founder of Mukto-Mona blog Avijit Roy, whose writing on religion had brought threats from Islamist hardliners, has been killed in Bangladeshi capital Dhaka.

Avijit Roy, an American-Bangladeshi atheist who advocated secularism, was hacked to death with machetes as he walked back from a book fair with his wife Rafida Ahmed, who was hurt in the attack.

“He died as he was brought to the hospital. His wife was also seriously wounded. She has lost a finger,” local police chief Sirajul Islam said.

No-one has been arrested but police say they are investigating a local Islamist group that praised the killing.

Hundreds of students gathered in Dhaka to mourn the blogger’s death.

Avijit Roy’s family say he had received threats after publishing articles promoting secular views, science and social issues on his Bengali-language blog, Mukto-Mona (Free Mind).

He defended atheism in a recent Facebook post, calling it “a rational concept to oppose any unscientific and irrational belief“.

The website was inaccessible on February 27.

The killing in early 2013 of another secular blogger, Ahmed Rajib Haider, which was blamed on religious hardliners, sparked protests from free-speech supporters and counter-protests from Islamists.

The police said the attack on Avijit Roy was similar to the 2013 murder.