• It is alleged that the autopsy report showed they had been raped, strangled, stabbed several times in the neck and eyes and their leg had been broken.
• Sheila was found on Thursday last week after failing to turn up for work after three days.
Image: /COURTESY
The Queer community in Kenya is outraged over the brutal murder of a member of their community this week.
Sheila Lumumba, 25, who identified as a member of the LGBTQ community and used the pronouns They, Them, Theirs, was found dead and naked in a pool of blood in her house in Karatina.
Following the discovery of her body, the community took to Social Media to decry what they say is ignorance by the state, over their general safety.
A friend of Sheila’s by the name of Afrika started a hashtag that was trending on Twitter on Friday #JusticeForSheila and #ProtectQueerKenyans.
I’m really frustrated by silence around the brutal rape and murder of Sheila Adhiambo Lumumba from kisumu who was known as Lumumba Sheila and was found dead in their house on Thursday last week.@DCI_Kenya #ProtectQueerKenyans🇰🇪🏳️🌈#JusticeForSheila🕯 pic.twitter.com/95Pa9W3n8z
— Protect Queer Kenyans 🇰🇪🏳️🌈 (@DecolonialBruja) April 21, 2022
She alleges that the autopsy report Sheila’s family divulged to her showed they had been raped, strangled, stabbed several times in the neck and eyes and their leg had been broken.
“Their body was found in her house three days after they failed to report to work,” a family member told Afrika in a WhatsApp message.
Kenyans joined the calls for action to be taken over the heinous act and for justice to be delivered to Sheila and her family.
The police have made no mention of the killing nor suspicions of why the act might have been committed.
However, members of the LGBTQ community are adamant that it was a homophobic hate crime that was committed.
The National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission of Kenya (NGLHRC) said on Twitter that Sheila’s death was not a first of its kind.
"It bears mentioning that unfortunately these are not isolated incidences and are part of a pattern of attacks and violence against LGBTIQ persons in the country," they said.
Rights groups including Amnesty Kenya and numerous others also came out to call for the protection of the Queer community and investigation into the murder.
“Nobody deserves such cruelty or murder. Sheila Adhiambo Lumumba deserves justice. We must make it so. #JusticeForSheila. So saddened by this,” Irungu Houghton, Executive Director of Amnesty Kenya said.
“Amnesty Kenya will act on this. Also Directorate of Criminal Investigations, National Police Service and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions,” he added.