By Foday Moriba Conteh
In contemporary Sierra Leone, reports of isolated physical attacks on persons allegedly accused of being homosexuals is becoming scary and there seems to be no concrete actions taken by rights based organizations to protect them from cruel treatments that take the forms of family discrimination, isolation and even mob justice or action sometimes leading to deaths in cases where the victims are trapped and find it difficult to escape. The case of one, Abdulai Jalloh, is the latest that this medium came to learn about and thoroughly investigated.
According to reliable sources, Abdulai Jalloh, who was residing at Newcastle Street, Bus Station Shell Company in the East End of Freetown, was said to have come under serious intimidation and harassment from members of his family and the community after allegedly being caught practicing homosexuality with his male partner in his room.
Infuriated family members and community youths were alarmed at the discovery and whist they were about to break the door of the room where it was said they were having the “abominable” affair, both of them acted swiftly by jumping through the window before they were reached at, according to our reporter, when he secretly interviewed Abdulai , in his hiding place, who was at that time very panicky as he was shaking and speaking in trembling tones fearing the danger that lies ahead of him if their assailants lay hands on them.
The case of Abdulai Jalloh is one that is very complex to understand in a society that heavily frowns on homosexuality based on strict fundamental religious beliefs that individuals were not created to mate as same sexes. In his situation, he hails from a strict religious family background where such a thing is not in the least encouraged and bisexuality is never entertained and is even considered as one of the worst forms of sinful ways of living.
It must also be noted that both national and religious laws in the country totally forbid individuals from practicing such acts. Community members were completely disappointed at Abdulai’s action, which they noted goes contrary to their customs and traditions.
According to a resident of Newcastle Street, Bus Station Shell Company East End of Freetown, whom our reporter contacted to shed light on the issue, he had known Abdulai Jalloh since childhood furthering that he had been very secretive about his sexual orientation since they were early teenagers and realized that he was intimately attracted to both men and women.
He said Abdulai used to spend his free time with other boys of his age, also maintaining that the attraction was not just usually physical, but also mental. He continued that even though Abdulai dated girls, but he saw that he was leaning more toward other boys and noticed how he used to tenderly touch and hug them.
He concluded that if Abdulai is accused of being a gay, that will not be a big surprise to him because the signs were noticeably subtly evident in his behaviour and attraction to other people.
According to an in-depth investigation mounted by this medium, it was revealed that Abdulai Jalloh and his male partner has been in a friendship since when he was 12 years and during their friendship they discovered that they have developed feelings for each other, although they knew that it is forbidden in the country.
However, even though they had tried to hide their feelings, however, as a result of the close intimacy to each other at a time when others of their same age were competitively trying to date girls their closeness started to raise doubts and suspicions especially among their girlfriends.
Our investigation further revealed that on the 2nd July 2021 when Abdulai Jalloh was celebrating his birthday at home with others in their company he and his intimate friend later ended up retiring in his room where they were about to have sexual intercourse when suddenly they had a heavy bang on the door of the room whilst others were in the living room dancing. Hearing the accusation of having caught them red handed they knew it was a decisive moment and therefore had no alternative but to escape through the window before they could be pounced at.
After their escape, a manhunt was mounted for both of them as angry family members and community youths were desperately on the lookout for them. Abdulai’s family members said he has brought shame and disgrace to them and considered him as the black sheep of the family.
The house where he was staying was constantly under surveillance as irate community youths were desperately hoping that they will return in order to teach him that such a lifestyle is unacceptable and beat the sense out of him during which time if he is lucky he could survive the ordeal.
However, luckily for him, in particular that did not transpire but does not mean that his safety is assured as time elapses. Since then his whereabouts has not been known or discovered.
And up to the time of this medium going to Press our reporter was unable to contact Abdulai Jalloh, whom it is expected has gone underground based on the intensity of the situation. However, we will continue to monitor the situation and as things unfold this medium will shed more light on this complex issue that has to do with LGBTQIA, bisexuality or homosexuality.
