Jamaica’s deadly homophobia also kills heterosexuals

Colin Stewart is a 45-year journalism veteran. He is the…

Jamaica’s deadly homophobia also kills heterosexuals, LGBT rights activist Maurice Tomlinson observes. Specifically, just yesterday:

Jamaican police official Derrick Champagnie is investigating the case. (Photo courtesy of The Gleaner)

“On Monday, September 24, 2012 a family’s home was firebombed, an innocent man was hacked to death and his daughter severely chopped by a machete-wielding mob when reports surfaced that two boys were found drowned after allegedly being sodomized and strangled.

“The mob claimed the son of the deceased was responsible. However, the police have found no evidence of sodomy.”

In Jamaica, The Gleaner‘s website reports about the attack:

“The mob burnt down the house, killed the man … and attacked the female relative as they are said to be the family members of a man accused of killing the little boys,” a police source told The Gleaner.

“They are contending that the boys were buggered, but there was no initial information to support this claim. The post-mortem was scheduled for today, but we haven’t heard anything about the outcome.”

Later yesterday, the Constabulary Communication Network (CCN) revealed the post-mortem concluded that the deaths were caused by drowning.
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“However, there are signs to indicate the boys may have been injured before they died,” the CCN said. “As a result, crime officer for Area One, Acting Senior Superintendent Derrick Champagnie, has been assigned to head a team that will be conducting more in-depth investigations into the matter.”

Rumours have been rife in Trelawny that Alex and Javani had been sexually molested and then murdered, but the preliminary investigations by the police did not support that notion.