Young gay man tortured and killed in Mexico after he revealed that he had HIV

A young gay man was tortured, burned and killed in Mexico after he revealed at a party that he was living with HIV, activists say.

The victim, who has not been named, was allegedly slain in a blacksmith shop in Cancún, a southeastern beach town in the state of Quintana Roo, in early June.

It was a night of revelry that slipped into mayhem when the victim informed party-goers that he was living with HIV, advocacy group Resilientxs told Presentes, a local queer news outlet.

He died from a “blow to the head with a blunt, short object”, the Attorney General’s Office said in a report.

“This case has caused us a lot of anger because we are in the month that commemorates the pride of our community in which rights are requested and claimed,” Resilientxs member Edwin Reyes told the press.

The authorities have since tracked down and arrested the alleged killer in Tabasco, some 900 kilometres from Cancún, who was a man believed to be the neighbour and tenant of the victim.