In Latvia, a gay paramedic was burned alive in an alleged homophobic attack.
Normunds Kindzulis, 29, died in his home after suffering horrendous burns in his body.
Kindzulis was rushed to a hospital on the day of the alleged arson but the European Pride Organisers Association confirmed later that he had died.
“Normunds Kindzulis, a victim of the homophobic arson attack in Latvia last week, has succumbed to his injuries,” EPOA tweeted. “Our deepest condolences to his partner and family, and to all our community in Latvia.”
According to Euro News, Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš called it as a “heinous crime” that should be “thoroughly investigated”.
Pink News reported that another man was also injured in the fire as he rushed to help Kindzulis.
The local police reportedly refused to open an investigation at first and said that Kindzulis case can be a suicide rather than a crime.
Despite campaigners urging the police to treat the incident as a homophobic hate crime, authorities said they cannot rule out the possibility of suicide.
“Bringing someone to the brink of suicide is also a crime,” officer Andrejs Grishins said.
Local reports said that Kindzulis encountered homophobic-fuelled death threats while living in Riga —Latvia’s capital— so he moved to the quiet town of Tukums.
Kindzulis was allegedly subjected to homophobia and was attacked at least four times.
The man who tried to help Kindzulis told Tukums Independent News how they had reported to police that a neighbor threatened them in their home.
“We reported these threats to both the police and the neighbor’s workplace, but there was no reaction,” the man said. “We had to wait for someone to be mutilated or killed.”
Latvia president Egils Levits tweeted that “there is no place for hatred in Latvia”.
Levits added in a follow-up tweet that the country’s society holds the value of “tolerance” and that if the incident is confirmed as a homophobic hate attack, “such an expression of hatred is at the same time a crime against society”.