South African Police Show no Progress in Case of Lesbian Teen Murder

A young lesbian woman, was stabbed to death on the night of her birthday in Katlehong near Johannesburg.

Screen Shot 2016-04-06 at 7.35.02 AMLucia Naido, was murdered in a suspected hate crime close to her from her home on March 19. She was found dying by her horrified mother, who ran outside when she heard her daughter’s desperate screams. It has been some weeks since the horrific crime, and community, family and friends are concerned that SAPS, the South African police have made no progress in their investigation. There is speculation that SAPS is not taking the investigation seriously.

Lerato Phalakatshela, Hate Crime Manager at OUT LGBT Well-being and spokesperson for the Love Not Hate campaign. said according to Mambaonline:

“She deserves justice. The Katlehong SAPS must intensify their search and arrest these criminals. There have been many hate crimes against LGBTI people in South Africa over the years,” Phalakatshela added, “but there have been very few arrests. The system is really failing us.”

According to Mambaonline, Lucia, who had just turned 19, loved playing football and was studying towards a qualification in fitting and turning at the Wits Technical College.

Her friends and mother said that the nightmare began with a car accident in the area at around 11pm. Many residents, including Lucia and her family, went out into the neighborhood to investigate and assist.

After the scene was cleared, Lucia’s mother returned home, leaving her and two friends behind. Xoliswa, one of the friends, told Mambaonline that the trio stood on a street corner smoking cigarettes when they noticed two men nearby.  THE FULL STORY HERE

If you have any information about Lucia’s murder, please contact Phalakatshela on

Melanie Nathan, [email protected]


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