Rober Liza has been arrested after running away with her lover
BY DIVA STAFF, IMAGE BY PEXELS
France-based rights organisation JusticeMakers Bangladesh (JMBF) have shared their concern over a woman who has been sent to jail in Bangladesh on kidnapping charges after running away with another woman.
JBMF have stated that Mim Akhter and Rober Liza had fallen in love after meeting on Facebook. Mim divorced her husband, and the pair ran away together on 25 January to get married.
On 12 February, JBMF reported that Liza was arrested for a kidnapping charge which was filed by Mim’s mother. The family have claimed that Liza kept Mim unconscious by injecting her with an unspecified substance. Liza was sentenced and sent to jail on 13 February.
Mim’s sister has said that once Mim met Liza she “refused to marry any boy”. The pair had allegedly tried to run away twice unsuccessfully before this attempt.
JusticeMakers Bangladesh wrote in their statement: “JMBF asserts that such actions, driven by prejudice and discrimination against sexual minorities, violate fundamental human rights as declared by the United Nations. This incident is not an isolated one in Bangladesh but reflects a larger pattern of human rights violations against sexual minorities, including discrimination, violence, and false accusations, across the nation.”
“Moreover, JMBF calls for the constitutional recognition of homosexuals and LGBT people in Bangladesh. It calls for the repeal of Section 377 of the Penal Code, which criminalises same-sex intimacy, and the enactment of laws to protect the rights and dignity of individuals within the homosexual community.”
Homosexuality is currently illegal in Bangladesh.
DIVA magazine celebrates 30 years in print in 2024. If you like what we do, then get behind LGBTQIA media and keep us going for another generation. Your support is invaluable.
