Kenyan LGBTQ activist’s body found stuffed inside a box, police say
- The remains of Edwin Chiloba who fought ‘relentlessly to change the hearts and minds of society’ were found in the roadside near his fashion business
- Under a British colonial-era law, gay sex in Kenya is punishable by 14 years in prison – it is rarely enforced but discrimination is common
Kenyan police have discovered the body of a prominent LGBTQ rights campaigner stuffed inside a metal box in the west of the country, local media reported on Friday.
Motorbike taxi riders alerted police after they saw the box dumped by the roadside from a vehicle with a concealed number plate, The Standard and The Daily Nation newspapers reported, quoting police sources.
Activist Edwin Chiloba’s remains were found on Tuesday near Eldoret town in Uasin Gishu county, where he ran his fashion business, independent rights group the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) said.
“He was brutally killed & dumped in the area by unknown assailants”, KHRC said on Twitter. “It is truly worrisome that we continue to witness escalation in violence targeting LGBTQ+ Kenyans”.
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Research suggests acceptance of homosexuality is gradually increasing in Kenya, but it remains a taboo subject for many. The country’s film board has banned two films for their portrayals of gay lives in recent years.
Police spokesperson Resila Onyango said the motive wasn’t yet known. “We don’t know for now why he was killed that way. Experts are handling the matter,” she said.
Uasin Gishu County Commander Ayub Gitonga Ali declined to comment.
“Words cannot even explain how we as a community are feeling right now. Edwin Chiloba was a fighter, fighting relentlessly to change the hearts and minds of society when it came to LGBTQ+ lives,” Galck, a Kenyan gay rights group, said on Twitter.
Chiloba has in the past been attacked and assaulted for his activism, his friend Denis Nzioka tweeted on Thursday.
The calls for justice have spread outside Kenya as Ghanaian human rights organisation Rightify called on President William Ruto to “ensure the protection and promotion of human rights of sexual and gender minorities”.
Under a British colonial-era law, gay sex in Kenya is punishable by 14 years in prison. It is rarely enforced but discrimination is common.
