- Gatuku who for the last eight years has been advocating for LGBTQ rights, vowed he would not be cowed by the threats.
- Gatuku was in his house with a colleague David Kinyua when over 20 youths attacked him.
Image: BBC
An activist involved in advocating for the rights of Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBTQ) in Gilgil now claims his life is in danger after he was attacked by members of the public.
The activist John Gatuku, escaped with injuries following the attack in which some youths accused him of shaming the community for his stand on LGBTQ.
Gatuku who for the last eight years has been advocating for LGBTQ rights, vowed he would not be cowed by the threats despite escaping death by the whisker.
The incident comes barely a week after two men were attacked in a bar in Naivasha and seriously beaten up after revellers accused them of being members of the LGBTQ society.
In the latest incident, Gatuku was in his house with a colleague David Kinyua when over 20 youths attacked him accusing him of immoral behaviour and shaming the community.
He said during the attack, some of the youths were demanding the names of all members of the society in the area for disciplining.
"I have been receiving threatening messages almost daily which are psychologically torturing me, I live in fear daily," he said.
Despite the threats, he said it was his right to choose which social group to belong to and that he was not ready to stop promotion and defending LGBTQ community.
“I have reported the matter to the police who did not seem to take the issue seriously but this will not deter me from seeking equality of all,” he said.
A senior police officer who declined to be named said no arrest had been made though an inquiry file had been opened.
Meanwhile, police in Naivasha have arrested a 48-year-old man for allegedly sodomising eight minors in one of the estates.
The suspect was arrested in Kihoto estate after complaints from some of the minors who had allegedly been abused for over one year.
According to John Kinuthia from Naivasha Gender Based Networking Cluster, one of the minors confessed to the parents of the abuse before police were informed.
“The minor listed the other minors who were visiting the suspect in his house after being wooed by sweets and later sexually abused,” he said.