An elite police unit in Bangladesh arrested 27 individuals on Friday based on the suspicion they are gay. In the conservative Muslim nation it is criminal to have same-sex relations.
The raid on a community center at Keraniganj, just south of the nation's capital, Dhaka, found mostly students in their 20s gathered together with condoms and drugs in their possession. Many had traveled from across the country to attend the event.
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Since the individuals were not caught in any same-sex sexual activity, they may just be able to be tried for drug offenses.
Officials ae still saying the arrested are all homosexuals because they planned a gay event and gathered together, but more proof would be needed (in any real court of law). If the accused are found guilty of homosexuality, the penalty is life in prison, a punishment based on an older, rarely-enforced British Colonial Era law.
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h/t: dw.com