A Chinese man was found dead inside a suitcase after his ex-boyfriend allegedly killed him in what is being considered a revenge attack at a home in northern Italy near Prato.
The victim, Hu Congliang, 20, threatened his 17-year-old ex-boyfriend by spreading all of his indecent pictures from his phone when the latter tried to break up with him, AFP reported via The Straits Times.
According to Italian police, the murder took place on Sunday when the unnamed minor went to Hu’s home with his four accomplices in Modena, a city where there is a large Chinese community. The group, who are also of Chinese descent, then went into the victim’s room and smothered Hu with his pillow before his lifeless body was stuffed into a suitcase under his bed. After the killing, the group left the house and said their goodbyes to Hu’s mother with the alibi that her son had already left the house earlier. Hu’s body was discovered by his mother when she entered his room and noticed that the suitcase under the bed was out of place. One of the four suspects voluntarily surrendered to the police, while the rest of the group were later arrested — one of them was caught right in the middle of a video game.
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“From what we understand so far, the punitive mission was prompted by the photographs,“ deputy police chief Marcello Castello said. “All five say they don’t speak Italian, which we don’t believe. They are all underage and have been utterly impassive. Just like their parents, who have been completely uncooperative,“ the deputy police chief added.
Arcigay, one of the many leading gay associations in Italy, released a statement regarding the murder of Hu. National secretary for the group, Gabriele Piazzoni, wrote: “We have learned with pain and rage of the murder of young Leo and the terrible circumstances of his death.” Piazzoni then continued to slam “a culture that tarnishes sexuality and sexual orientation” in his statement, coupling what happened to Hu with the suicide of a young Italian woman who feared that her sexual pictures would get leaked online.
“The issues of sexuality, sexual orientation and sexual practices are still taboo in our country… and yet it is this very stigma that hands violent people their lethal weapon,” Piazzoni said.
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