Authorities rejected activists’ claims that the slaying of a renowned LGBTQ activist in Kenya was a hate crime and instead charged a suspect with murder on Tuesday.
After a judge freed four further suspects, the only person who will be prosecuted with the murder of Edwin Chiloba, according to the authorities, is Jacktone Odhiambo. Due to the nation’s attitude toward LGBT rights, Chiloba’s murder garnered attention on a global scale. Police have ruled out the murder being a hate crime, according to Peter Kimulwo, chief of investigations for Uasin Gichu county.
According to Kimulwo, the murder was connected to a love triangle by detectives. It’s thought that Odhiambo, who was detained earlier this month, was Chiloba’s girlfriend. He lived in the western town of Eldoret, where Chiloba’s body was discovered on January 4 crammed into a metal box that had been abandoned at the side of a road.
It’s thought that three of the suspects who were freed assisted Odhiambo in removing Chiloba’s body from the victim’s home. On Tuesday, a magistrate gave the trio a three-month report-in period at a police station.
The murder, according to activists, was a hate crime, and fashion designer Chiloba had been the target because of his efforts on behalf of gay rights. The president of Kenya, an east African nation with a generally conservative culture, has previously stated that gay rights are not a concern there.