A Peruvian father faces allegations of setting his 22-year-old son on fire after learning he is gay and HIV positive.
Hitler Baneo Núñez, 49, allegedly tried to burn his son — identified in reports as Roberto — after becoming tired of jokes about his son’s sexual orientation, reports the Peruvian daily newspaper La Región.
La Region reported that Nuñez attacked Roberto because he “could not bear being a laughing stock after they learned his son had homosexual inclinations.”
Roberto suffered burns to his face, arms and parts of his legs before neighbors fought to extinguish the fire. It was also reported that he was suffering from tuberculosis.
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“My dad wanted to kill me because of those illnesses,” the victim is quoted in reports as saying. “Unfortunately, my father doesn’t accept me as I am.”
LGBT organization Comunidad Homosexual de la Región Loreto (CHERL), says the case needs to be treated as a human rights violation and not just an assault.
“We hope that this complaint … will be treated seriously by the authorities and that it can generate a change and call attention of the public to the homophobia that lives inside the home and is growing in society towards gay, lesbians, bisexuals, and trans people in the Loreto region,” the group said, in a statement to BuzzFeed.
