In March 2014, young gay man was brutally tortured and killed in a horror hate murder in the Western Cape. It was reported that 23-year-old David Olyne from Ceres was killed while a group of teens blithely watched on.
Investigation revealed that seven individuals between the ages of 14 and 16 and one of 18 years apparently witnessed Olyne’s nightmarish death. The youths from the Belle Vista neighbourhood were drinking near a local dam when they were invited by a man to watch how he was “going to kill a moffie [homosexual].”
They arrived on the scene where they found the victim already covered in blood and tied up with wire. Shockingly, the young witnesses wandered off without telling anyone about the incident. They returned to the scene the next morning to see if Olyne was still alive.
Fast forward to 2016, sentencing of the man responsible for the gay hate murder of David Olyne has been postponed for the second time. In January, Christo Oncke was found guilty of killing the then 23 year old Olyne by the Western Cape High Court in Ceres.
The sentencing had first been set for 22 February, but was delayed to 1 March. Due to the judge in the matter being ill, it has now been postponed till 18 April, a move that has been criticised by LGBTI rights groups.
Staff of an LGBTI organization known as Triangle had travelled for over two hours from Cape Town to attend the sentencing and waited for some time at the court before being informed of the postponement.
“These delays, added to the poor investigation and prosecution of this case are part of the complex set of reasons which stop LGBTI people reporting crimes committed against them – and embolden perpetrators of these crimes to act without fear of punishment,” saida member of the group.
Triangle has previously stated that it believes that two other people, in addition to Oncke, were likely involved in the killing and that they have gotten away with murder.
Triangle has also slammed the police’s investigation, accusing the authorities of oversight, a lack of thorough investigation, and of not following up on leads and witnesses it provided.
Additional info sourced from Mamba Online
