Windhoek - A gay rights group on Thursday condemned a physical assault on a man who won the first ever Mr Gay Namibia contest.
Out-Right Namibia (ORN) said it “strongly condemns the homophobic, and what could be a politically motivated attack on the first ever Mr Gay Namibia, Wendelinus Hamutenya”.
According to the organisers of the Mr Gay Namibia contest, held at the end of last month, Hamutenya was assaulted in Windhoek on Sunday evening by two men who beat him as he returned home.
“He has laid a charge of assault against his attackers. The men approached him and requested ‘the money he won at the Mr Gay competition’,” said Joe Gerstmayr, the managing director of Mr Gay Namibia, in a separate statement on Thursday.
After a short confrontation, one of the attackers kicked Hamutenya to the ground, while the other grabbed his cellphone and wallet.
They beat him (with a bottle) on his head, face and ribs, “which saw him hospitalised for observation at a Windhoek private clinic for 24 hours”, according to Gerstmayr.
Hamutenya is set to take part in the Mr Gay World 2012 contest in neighbouring South Africa next April.
Namibia has not passed any laws against gays or lesbians and its constitution forbids discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. - Sapa-AFP