A prominent Kenyan LGBTQ campaigner whose body was found dumped in a metal box was suffocated and socks crammed in his mouth, a Kenyan government pathologist said on Wednesday.
Edwin Kiprotich Kipruto, also known as Edwin Chiloba, was discovered last week on a roadside in the country's west, prompting criticism and demand for justice from rights organizations and friends.
"From our findings, he died because of asphyxia which is caused by smothering," chief government pathologist Johansen Oduor told reporters after the post-mortem.
A scrap from a pair of jeans had been tied around the mouth and nose of the 25-year-old fashion designer, Oduor said.
"There were socks which were stuffed in the mouth," he added.
"He had what is called cyanosis whereby when you look at the fingernails, they were blueish in discolouration, an indication that he was lacking oxygen when he died."
Chiloba's body was located some 40 kilometres (25 miles) outside the Rift Valley town of Eldoret after being thrown from a moving automobile.
Freelance photographer Jacktone Odhiambo, who was supposedly Chiloba's boyfriend, has been charged with his murder and is being held in police custody alongside four other suspects.
A judge in Eldoret granted police the right to keep the five suspects until January 31 as they conduct their investigation into the crime.
Oduor stated on Wednesday that there were no other injuries on Chiloba, but that investigators had taken additional samples for processing to see if he had been drugged before his death.
Rights activists both at home and abroad have denounced Chiloba's horrific killing and asked for further measures to safeguard LGBTQ people.
0 Comment(s)
SPONSORED
HEADLINE
TRENDING