Bangladesh police hunt man who married Rohingya refugee

AFP
A Rohingya woman holds a vessel for drinking water at Palangkhali refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2017. More than half a million Rohingya have fled from Myanmar to Bangladesh in just over a month, the largest refugee crisis to hit Asia in decades. (AP)

DHAKA, Bangladesh: Bangladesh police were Sunday searching for a man who defied a ban and married a Rohingya refugee, hundreds of thousands of whom have fled across the border to escape violence in Myanmar.
More than half a million Rohingya refugees have flocked to Bangladesh since an army crackdown began on August 25 in Myanmar鈥檚 Rakhine state, a process the UN has described as ethnic cleansing.
Shoaib Hossain Jewel, 25, and his 18-year-old Rohingya bride Rafiza have been on the run since marrying last month, said police in Jewel鈥檚 home town of Singair.
鈥淲e heard he married a Rohingya woman. We went to his home at Charigram village to look for him,鈥� Singair police chief Khandaker Imam Hossain told AFP.
鈥淏ut we did not find him there and his parents don鈥檛 know where he has gone,鈥� he said, adding they were investigating the case.
In 2014 Dhaka banned marriages between Bangladeshis and Myanmar鈥檚 Rohingya Muslim refugees following claims that members of the persecuted community were attempting to wed to gain citizenship in the mainly Muslim nation.
Jewel鈥檚 father Babul Hossain said citizenship was not the motive this time and defended his son鈥檚 marriage to Rafiza.
鈥淚f Bangladeshis can marry Christians and people of other religions, what鈥檚 wrong in my son鈥檚 marriage to a Rohingya?鈥� Hossain told AFP.
鈥淗e married a Muslim who took shelter in Bangladesh.鈥�
The Dhaka Tribune newspaper said Jewel, a teacher in a madrassa or religious school, fell in love with Rafiza after her family fled the latest bout of violence in Myanmar and took refuge at a cleric鈥檚 house in Singair.
In a police crackdown, the family was forced to move back to the main refugee camp in the southeastern district of Cox鈥檚 Bazar 鈥� some 265 miles from Singair.
A lovestruck Jewel rushed to Cox鈥檚 Bazar, running from one camp to another in search of Rafiza. He finally found her and asker her parents for their daughter鈥檚 hand in marriage.
Their wedding in Cox鈥檚 Bazar was the first known one between a Bangladeshi and a Rohingya refugee since the August flare-up, the newspaper reported.
Deadly attacks by Rohingya militants on Myanmar police posts on August 25 sparked a ferocious backlash against the community, which has suffered decades of discrimination in mainly Buddhist Myanmar.