A well-known secular blogger in Bangladesh who was murdered at his home on Friday had told police of threats against him and requested protection weeks before he died.
Niloy Chakrabarti, who used the pen name Niloy Neel, was hacked to death with machetes after a gang broke into his apartment in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka. He is the fourth blogger to have been killed in Bangladesh since February.
In an interview with the Guardian in May, Chakrabarti said he was scared that he would be killed and that he had tried to file reports with local police about continued harassment. He claimed his complaints were not taken seriously.
[TOP RATED COMMENT 98 votes] I don't know how it's possible to exist in an Islamic state, people must be continually walking on eggshells, at all times. It seems that offending religious sensibilities gives carte blanche to anybody wishing to do you harm, and also removes your right to protection by the police and other security services.
It's like that scene in The Life of Brian where the man is being stoned for uttering the name 'Jehovah', only this is real life and not a work of comedy.
[2ND 80] What sort of insecure, fucked-up god would want his followers to kill people who question his existence?
[3RD 72] Incredibly tragic and so sad for Bangladesh.
It's like a nasty virus infecting parts of the world.
We'll look back in times to come and wonder at how a religious creed was able to wreak such havoc in a relatively modern era. [The Guardian] Read more
