A yet to be confirmed report tells of a man in northern Cameroon stoned to death by a mob on 6 January after been caught having sex with a 17 year old male.

Lamine Goche was caught having sex with the high school student at his market shop in the town of Maroua.  It is said that a crowd heard a young street kid yelling the words Samaroka! Samaroka!’ (the word for homosexual in the Fulfulde language) and they were infuriated.

The crowd stoned Goche to death leaving his body to be buried by  local christians. The muslim crowd is believed to have been particularly aggravated because Goche was an Islamic teacher and the act of anal sex between men goes against their beliefs.

One of his fellow merchants says many in the community had known all along and were waiting for the chance to out him, “We suspected for years. But Allah did not give us an opportunity to act. … Today Allah answered our prayers and we surprised him.”

However another says “We had never seen him in action, especially because he was hiding beneath religious attire and pious behavior.”

Cameroon has come under fire for the blatant and rampant discrimination of it’s GLTBI people. In November a spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed concern about human rights violations against GLBT people in Cameroon.

In September two Cameroon men were jailed for 5 years after they were seen drinking Baileys at a bar. The men were said to have “gay mannerisms” and the highest possible sentence was given out.

The men are awaiting release from prison after they were found to be not guilty of homosexuality.

| Sarah Murphy