ALBAWABA - South African police confirmed on Sunday that Muhsin Hendricks, who is known to be the world’s "first openly gay imam," was shot dead.
Police further added that the shooting happened near the southern city of Gqeberha, The Guardian reported. It happened when the imam was inside a vehicle with another person on Saturday when another car shut the road.
The Eastern Cape force reported the shooting in a statement: "Two unknown suspects with covered faces got out of the vehicle and started firing multiple shots at the vehicle."
The statement further reads: "Thereafter they fled the scene, and the driver noticed that Hendricks, who was seated at the back of the vehicle was shot and killed."
The executive director of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association issued a statement decrying the killing of the world's first openly gay imam and labelling it as a "hate crime".
Julia Ehrt said: "The ILGA World family is in deep shock at the news of the murder of Muhsin Hendricks, and calls on authorities to thoroughly investigate what we fear may be a hate crime."
