Man allegedly murdered for adding suspect to LGBT+ WhatsApp group
A man in Indonesia has been arrested for allegedly murdering another man because he added him to an LGBT WhatsApp group.
Petrus Paulus Ualubun, 21, was arrested by Indonesian authorities on Tuesday in East Jakarta under suspicion of killing a man known as Ali, 33.
“The suspect was mad at the victim when the latter added him to an LGBT WhatsApp group, as the suspect [claimed not to be a part of that community],” said Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Argo Yuwono, according to to The Star.
“§The suspect invited the victim to meet, then assaulted and killed him,” he added.
The body of Ali, 33 was found in an alleyway in Jakarta, reported Indonesian publication The Kompas.
(Photo illustration by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
The victim is said to have sustained numerous stab wounds, including to the left temple, left eye, right chest, right back and right thigh.
It is a tough time to be LGBT+ in Indonesia.
In the province of Aceh, which is under Sharia law, gay men are to no longer be whipped in public – but they will be caned in private.
Two men were caned 83 times last year for consensual sex.
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In other areas of the country, there is a growing movement to ban gay sex.
WhatsApp usage and communications are also monitored by the Indonesian government, which is challenge for those wanting to build safe online LGBT spaces.
The government threatened to ban WhatsApp last year because of what they deemed pornographic GIFs. WhatsApp responded by removing pornographic GIFs from the service.
The country has strict anti-pornography laws and has targeted other services such as Telegram and Google in order to combat the dissemination of “obscene” imagery.
Last year, Indonesian lawmakers gave the green light to a proposed law that would outlaw ‘LGBT behaviours’ on television.
