Mixed Verdict in Murder Trial of South African Lesbian Footballer

An update on the trial of three men accused of the brutal murder of lesbian Eudy Simelane, the lesbian international South African soccer star killed in 2008. Before leaving her "naked body face down in a drainage ditch", her murderers gang-raped her and stabbed her nine times, autopsy results showed. One defendant received a life sentence and two were acquitted, reports the New York Times.

"In February, one of the attackers, Thato Mpithi, 23, pleaded guilty to murder, implicating three other men before denying their involvement almost six months later. On Tuesday, in a courtroom here in Delmas, two of the men he named were acquitted for lack of evidence, though the judge, Ratha Mokgoathleng, warned that they might someday have to answer to God. The other man on trial, Themba Mvubu, 24, had no reasonable explanation for his trousers’ being stained with Ms. Simelane’s blood. He received a life sentence but walked from the courtroom smiling, showing no contrition and telling a reporter, “Ach, I’m not sorry at all.” He disappeared down a stairway to a holding cell as some of Ms. Simelane’s friends shouted that they would prefer he be sliced into pieces."

Despite Simelane's sexual orientation, prosecutors never established her sexuality was the motive. The newspaper adds: "Judge Mokgoathleng was uncomfortable with the term lesbian itself. 'Is there another word that you can use instead of that one?' he asked the prosecutor."

Despite being the only African nation where same-sex marriage is legal, the reality is much different for many black South Africans and life in the impoverished townships is far less tolerant. South Africa has the highest incidences of rape in the world. So-called "corrective rape" attacks are said to be "on the increase" against lesbians in the townships, where rape and attacks against black gay men have also risen dramatically.

Mixed Verdict in SA Lesbian’s Murder Trial [NYT] 

You May Want to Read:
3 Men on Trial for Murder of Lesbian SA Footballer [R20]
Black Gay Men in SA Targeted for Rape, Abuse [R20]
Activists Protest "State-Backed" Homophobia [R20]

Comments

[Derrick from Philly]

The reason that none of us have commented on this event? It is too horrible and disgusting and painful. So, there is silence.

[Musa Okwonga]

"My Love (for Eudy Simelane)"

To some people
My love is somewhat alien;
When he comes up, they start subject-changing, and
In some states he's seen as some contagion -
In those zones, he stays subterranean;
Some love my love; they run parades for him:
Liberal citizens lead the way for him:
Concurrent with some countries embracing him,
Whole faiths and nations seem ashamed of him:
Some tried banning him,
God-damning him,
Toe-tagging him,
Prayed that he stayed in the cabinet,
But my love kicked in the panelling, ran for it -
My love! Can't be trapping him in labyrinths! -
Maverick, my love is; thwarts challenges;
Cleverest geneticists can't fathom him,
Priests can't defeat him with venomous rhetoric;
They'd better quit; my love's too competitive:
Still here, despite the Taliban, Vatican,
And rap, ragga in their anger and arrogance,
Calling on my love with lit matches and paraffin -
Despite the fistfights and midnight batterings -
Despite the dislike by Anglican Africans
And sly comparisons with those mishandling
Small kids, and his morbid inner chattering
My love's still here and fiercely battling,
Parenting, marrying, somehow managing;
My love comes through anything