One of the suspects in the death last week of prominent Kenyan LGBTQ rights campaigner Edwin Chiloba is his roommate with whom he is “believed to have been in (a) close relationship,” the police said on Monday.
Chiloba’s body was found in a metal box after being dumped out of a vehicle. His death sent shockwaves through the LGBTQ community in Kenya, where homosexuality is taboo and gay sex is punishable by 14 years in prison, although that law is rarely enforced.
A police affidavit released by a court in Chiloba’s hometown of Eldoret on Monday said he is believed to have died in the home he shared with one of the suspects, Jacktone Odhiambo.
It said Odhiambo and four other suspects “as per their statements, helped in moving, loading and probably dumping of the metallic box carrying the remains of the deceased from the vehicle”.
The police said they would hold the five suspects for 21 days as they continue their investigation.
