In the Etoug-ébé neighborhood of Yaoundé, at a place called TKC, residents witnessed a shocking scene on Monday, August 15, 2022. A young girl was insulted and brutally beaten by a crowd. At first glance, one might have thought it was the beating of a criminal. However, it was a punishment inflicted by her family after discovering her homosexuality.
According to eyewitnesses, the victim, Amandine Thérèse Bena Bela, is the mother of a six-month-old child. She had been engaging in homosexual relationships without her family’s knowledge. Everything changed on August 15, 2022, when she was caught in a motel at TKC.
Thérèse had arranged to meet her girlfriend, but first encountered another young girl who was there to join them for a threesome.
The two girls began their activities until someone knocked on the door. Believing it was her girlfriend, Thérèse, naked, opened the door only to find her uncle and several other family members.
She was dragged outside the motel, where she was violently beaten, insulted, and rejected by her family. Her hair was shaved on the spot as a sign of total rejection.
It was only thanks to the intervention of the local gendarmerie that Thérèse was rescued and taken to a nearby health center for treatment.
In Cameroon, lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgender (LGBT) individuals are widely rejected by society.
Like Thérèse, many other homosexuals have been publicly beaten because of their sexual orientation. This is also the case for Shakiro, who was forced into exile after being lynched in Douala.
Homosexuality is also criminalized under Cameroonian law. Article 347-1 of the Penal Code states: “Anyone who has sexual relations with a person of the same sex shall be punished with imprisonment for a term of six (06) months to five (05) years and a fine of twenty thousand (20,000) to two hundred thousand (200,000) francs.”.
Cletus G.
