22 May 2017

Bangladesh Police Arrest 27 for Homosexuality

Bangladesh police say 27 men between 20 and 30 years were arrested at a community centre outside the capital city Dhaka.

Authorities in Bangladesh raided a community centre on the outskirts of capital city Dhaka on Friday and arrested 27 men for “homosexuality,” according to police.

A commander of Bangladesh’s Rapid Action Battalion, who made the arrests, said the suspects were mostly students aged between 20 and 30 who had travelled to the centre for a weekend event,  according to the Associated Press.

Police reportedly found drugs and condoms in the men’s possession.

He said the men would be charged with drug offenses rather than Bangladesh’s colonial-era sodomy law, because they were detained before they had sex,  according to an Associated Press report.

However, a different Bangladesh police spokesman told Agence France-Presse that the men had been arrested “for homosexuality” but that it was not yet clear how they would be charged.