Assailants hacked to death an American atheist writer and blogger of Bangladeshi origin and seriously wounded his wife Thursday night outside a book fair in Dhaka, the South Asia nation's capital.
Avijit Roy, 42, a champion of secularism and outspoken critic of Islamists, was repeatedly stabbed by at least two attackers at the Dhaka University campus. His wife, Rafida Ahmed Bonya, was hospitalized with multiple wounds.
Ansar Bangla-7, believed to be an Islamist group, claimed responsibility for the attack in a Twitter posting, said Shibli Noman, assistant police commissioner for the Ramna zone.
No immediate arrests were made, police said.
Sirajul Islam, the police officer in charge at the Shahbag station, said two bloodstained butcher knives and a shoulder bag were recovered at the scene. Handles of the butcher knives were wrapped in paper, he said.
The attack occurred on a footpath outside the Teachers-Students Center on the campus about 9 p.m., authorities said. At least two assailants struck Roy with machetes from behind, slashing wounds into his head. They also struck his wife when she tried to save him. Bonya, 40, suffered injuries in the head and lost a finger, Islam said.
The couple was taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital, where Roy died about 10:20 p.m., officials said. Bonya, herself a writer and blogger, was being treated and was listed in serious condition.
Witnesses said police officers and others were nearby when the attack occurred but did not attempt to intervene despite Bonya's screams for help.
Roy, son of professor Ajay Roy, who taught physics at Dhaka University, moved to the U.S. in 2007, gained citizenship and had worked as software engineer. He had been previously threatened by Islamist fundamentalists, said family members and fellow bloggers.
"His writing drew the ire of religious fanatics," Baki Billah, a blogger said.
Noman, the assistant police commissioner, said the attack bore the hallmarks of assaults that have been linked to Islamist militants. "Whoever they are, we'll trace them," he said.
A Twitter account named Ansar Bangla 7 posted a photo of a bloodied Roy and Bonya, saying: "May be its Avijit Roy's bloody wife Husband's Head. #Beheaded He was a top Target 4 last 3/4 years."
Roy, whose writings included the books "Virus of Faith" and "From Vacuum to the Universe," flew to Bangladesh on Feb. 16 to attend the book fair and planned to return to the U.S. on March 4, said his younger brother, Anujit Roy.
Last year, Rakamari.com, an online bookstore, was forced to remove Avijit's books from its list following threats by Shafiur Rahman Farabi, a fundamentalist blogger.
Farabi was arrested for posting provocative comments on his Facebook page supporting the killing of blogger Ahmed Rajib Haidar in Mirpur on Feb. 16, 2013. He was later released on bail.
The attack on Roy resembled the assaults on Haider, professor Humayun Azad of Dhaka University and blogger Asif Mohiuddin, said Koushik Ahmed, another blogger.
Azad was hacked by assailants in 2004 as he was leaving the annual book fair. He died later in Germany while undergoing treatment for his wounds.
Kader is a special correspondent.
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