South Africa: A 24-year-old Zimbabwean lesbian was found dead in South Africa after receiving rape and death threats from the area’s local men.
According to the sources, Ruth “Nickki” Chigowe was found dead on May 27 in Katlehong, a large township in the country’s Gauteng Region. She leaves behind a daughter, who is just 1-year-old.
Authorities confirmed her identity on May 31 by Forum for the Empowerment of Women (FEW), and the murder case was opened at Katlehong North Police Station.
However, none of the arrests has been made yet.
Zaheeda Munyai from Access Chapter 2, an association that encourages women empowerment and LGBTQ+ rights, told in an interview that before Chigowe was murdered, she and her girlfriend had “received homophobic threats from guys around the area where in they uttered that they had both deserve to be raped and killed”.
As per Munyai claims, Chigowe had been refused by her parents due to her sexuality, adding: There is an urgent need to investigate Katlehong. LGBTI people live in fear, so they are not coming up with their relationships.
A candle march was held for Chigowe on June 3 at Mapangha Ground, Kathlehong. Her death is the latest in a string of anti-LGBTQ + Killings in South Africa in recent months, following the brutal mutilation of lesbian Nontokozo Caroline Motloung, who was bush on May 21. Authorities are still trying to find her killers.
As per the Human Rights Watch (HRW) 2021 reports, at least 20 LGBTQ+ people were murdered in South Africa. These killings prompted the group to write a condemning letter to South African authorities demanding better protections for the community.
“We are writing to express our worry about the number of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) individuals killed and violently assaulted over the past year in circumstances that suggest their sexual orientation or identity was the major cause that they were targeted,” the letter read.
“We request information about the steps that you and other members of the National Task Team on Gender and Sexual Orientation-based Violence Perpetrated against LGBTI Persons (NTT) have taken or are planning to take to address this scourge.”