Suspected gay flees Sabon Zongo after mob attack

The peace and serenity enjoyed by residents of Sabon Zongo, a suburb of Accra was shattered last Sunday when news spread that a 52 year old married man had been caught fondling another man in the washroom of a popular pub during the recent Muslim Eid-ul-Fitr festivities.

The alleged gay, one Ali Haruna, a well known businessman and respected elder in the community who is married with three daughters was apparently caught redhanded by other merrymakers who were alarmed at how long the door to the washroom had been closed and forced their way in, only to find two grown men seriously kissing and fondling each other.

Indeed, eyewitness accounts indicate that the two 'lovers' didn't even realise the door had been forced open and were still holding tightly to each other until the angry crowd pounced on them and started beating them up mercillesly. Haruna got a nasty injury on the head as a result.

In a Muslim dominated community where Haruna was highly respected and trusted so much that he was seen as a mentor to the very young man they saw him engaging in the abominable act with, the screams of both the assailants and prey drew a lot of people to the scene.

Some private security officers on way to their duty posted also chanced upon the melee, stopped by and intervened to calm tensions. After hearing the issue on hand, the security company asked to take the alleged gays to a nearby Police Station for the law officers to handle the matter.

But neighbours believed the security guys just helped the two accussed gays escape as they didn't tell them which Police Station they were taken to and the two have also not returned to the community ever since.

The angry neighbours have now turned on the family of Ali Haruna, threatening them every day to produce their husband, father and brother. In fact, one morning, the angry youth rampaged, looted and destroyed the provision shop Haruna operates in front of his house.

According to reliable accounts by neighbours, Haruna has been married for a long time with one biological daughter, Zainab Haruna Ali as well as two adopted, Farida Mustapha Addo and Khalifa Mustapha Addo. But some elderly folks who knew him as a youth, revealed that he was accused of being gay over 20 years ago when he wasn't even married but he always denied it.

As a modest wealthy man, he also commanded a huge respect in the community and nobody suspected he could still be engaged in such tabboo until the night he was caught with one, Mustapha Tanko, a young man who often visits Haruna in his home for supposed Islamic teachings. Apparently during the party to herald the end of this year's Ramadan fasting at the pub, the two 'lovers' got so deep in the mood that they decided to do a 'quickie' inside the toilets but it proved their undoing.

Whispers among neighbours indicate that Ali Haruna in particular may have travelled out of the country to escape the shame and hatred in the area. All attempts to reach his family for their side of the story proved futile.