South Africa: Teens watch as gay man is beaten, murdered and set on fire
A 21-year old South African gay man was tied up, beaten, set on fire and killed, according to reports.
MambaOnline reports that David Olyn, from Ceres, was murdered over the weekend, while onlookers as young as 14 watched.
According to reports, seven youths from Belle Vista were invited to watch by a man who said he was “going to kill a moffie [slang for faggot]”.
Olyn, who was tied up with wire, had his head smashed in with a brick, before being stamped on and set on fire.
The incident, which took place on Saturday evening, was not reported to the police until the following day.
Police spokesman Andre Traut said yesterday that a 28-year-old has been arrested in connection with the killing.
He said: “The man appeared in court on Tuesday on charges of murder.”
“He was remanded [in custody] and will appear again on April 3.”
Investigative reporter Maahir Pretorius told MambaOnline that the crime seemed to have had little impact on the witnesses: “I spoke to those kids and they were kicking a ball around and I though that perhaps they needed help or counselling, but this was nothing new for them. They are exposed to violence on a daily basis.”
Despite a complex gay rights record, South Africa became the first and so far only country in Africa to legalise marriage rights for same-sex couples in 2006.
