Two men violently attacked and tortured in separate homophobic assaults in Chile
The LGBT organisation Movilh have called for the protection of LGBT people
By Steve Brown
Two men have been violently attacked and tortured in separate homophobic attacks in Chile.
According to Chile’s leading LGBT organisation, Movilh, 52-year-old Jose David Munoz Vargas was forced into a hot tub at his home where one of the attackers held his head under the hot water.
Vargas was taken to a nearby hospital with severe burns and he remains in a critical condition.
Rolando Jimenez, head of Movilh, said: “We are in contact with family members who tell us that the attack was homophobic, so we will continue to provide guidance and help in whatever they wish.
“We must thoroughly investigate this outrage and apply Zamudio Law to this hate attack.”
Following the death of Daniel Zamudio back in 2012, the Zamudio Law was introduced to protect members of the LGBT+ community from violence and discrimination.
The second man was also attacked in an alleged homophobic hate crime on New Year’s Day in the coastal town of Valparaiso.
The 24 year old was travelling in a car with his attackers and they started to become violent when he started talking on the phone to his partner.
Diego Rios, a spokesperson for Movilh-Valparaiso, said: “Everything was going well until the young man started talking on the phone with his partner.
“The men then began to insult him because of his sexual orientation, as well as to beat him and torture him. It’s a sad situation.”
The attackers allegedly drove him to a lake in the Andes Mountain where they stomped on his genitals, burnt cigarettes on his hands and bashed him over the head with a rock.
The victim fell unconscious but woke up the next day feeling ‘disorientated and lost’.