MADRID – The 20-year-old man, who is said to have become the victim of a hate crime on Sunday, previously made a false statement. The Spanish police report the injuries were inflicted with mutual consent by the man´s new sex partner.
On Sunday, the young man is said to have been attacked by eight men at his home in Madrid and beaten with knives because he is gay. Spain saw this as another hate crime and attack on the LGBT community. However, a few days after the attack, the man adjusted his statement to the Spanish police.
Spanish police doubted Madrid victim’s story
Shortly after the alleged attack on the victim, the Spanish police launched an investigation into the perpetrators. During the investigation, the police had their doubts about the man’s statement. The Spanish newspaper El País reported no one had seen a group of men wearing hoods at the time of the attack. Camera images also failed to confirm the man’s story.
False declaration to protect new sex partner
The police decided to talk to the alleged victim again and it became clear that the injuries had not been inflicted by a group of men as some sort of homophobic act, but that his sex partner had done so by mutual consent. The 20-year-old said he previously made a false statement to protect his new partner.
Shortly after the man’s first statement, Spain was once again in shock. It was yet another hate crime against someone because of a different sexual orientation or preference. Almost immediately after the news broke, demonstrations against homophobic violence were announced in Spain.
Spain continues to fight for equality
Despite the fact that this did not turn out to be a hate crime, the protests continued on Wednesday evening. The Spanish government also promises tougher sentences for hate crimes. One false charge doesn’t mean the problem doesn’t exist, said the president of the Fundación Triángulo, which fights for equal political and social rights for the LGBT community.
How many hate crimes take place in Spain?
The figures from the Ministry of the Interior show that the number of reports of hate crimes has been increasing every year since 2003. In 2019, the police received 1,706 reports of hate crimes, in 2020 this dropped to 1,401. This decrease is probably due to the pandemic. In the first six months of this year, the police already received 610 reports. Recent government research shows that only one in ten victims of a hate crime is reporting it.
