Footage said to show a gay man’s body being dug up from a grave and burned has shocked Senegal, triggering an investigation in the conservative country where homophobia is rife.
The perpetrators arrived at a cemetery in the central city of Kaolack on Saturday evening searching for the grave of a man buried the day before, the public prosecutor said.
Media reported that they targeted the body because the man was gay, though this was not mentioned in the prosecutor’s statement and has not been verified by AFP.
Videos widely shared on local and social media show people gathered around a large fire, filming the scene on their phones.
Senegalese law deems gay sex “against nature” and punishes it with imprisonment of up to five years.
Homosexuality has never been widely accepted in Senegal, but the incident allegedly committed on Saturday night has been viewed by many as an assault on the respect due to the dead.
Senegal’s judiciary on Sunday said it was opening an investigation to identify and punish the perpetrators of the “barbarity”.
A local police official told AFP four people suspected of “being among the masterminds” were arrested on Monday in Kaolack, confirming, on the condition of anonymity, information from a press release, without giving further details.
Although very uncommon, it was not the first time the body of someone thought to be gay has been exhumed in Senegal.
At least two cases were documented in central and western parts of the country from 2008 to 2009, but AFP has found no recent record of public cremation.
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