Mob beats cross-dresser

FALMOUTH, Trelawny - A cross-dreser was set upon and
severely beaten by a mob in Falmouth's Water Square
yesterday morning.

Police who were called to the scene had to fire warning
shots to disperse the stone-throwing, stick-wielding mob,
which succeeded in tearing off the man's black-and-white
form-fitting blouse and jet black wig.


According to eyewitnesses, the man was spotted at
approximately 8:30 am in the town centre apparently waiting
for transportation. He was wearing heavy make-up,
high-heeled shoes, a long pair of shiny earrings, a black
leather jacket over a snug black-and-white blouse, a
tight-fitting pair of jeans, a black wig, a pair of sunglasses
and a handbag slung over his broad shoulders.

It was not clear yesterday how the alarm was first raised.
However, the Observer was told that the assault began as soon
as someone in the busy square shouted that the person was
actually a man wearing female attire.

The news of the man's presence in the community spread rapidly
and in a matter of minutes scores of angry residents converged
on the scene and began to rain blows all over the cross-dresser's
body with sticks, stones and whatever weapon they could find.
"Where is the police station at?" the frightened man screamed.

During the melee, the wig the man was wearing fell off and wads
of newspaper stuffed in a brasserie to lift the man's chest dislodged,
while a cosmetic kit containing lipsticks of varying colours was
thrown from a bag he was carrying, much to the amusement of the
large crowd who stood watching.

"B***y boy fe dead," persons among the mob shouted.
The sentiments were echoed by the rest of the riled-up crowd.

"Falmouth no pet no b***y boy. We no want none a them bout here,"
one woman yelled. After the mob dispersed, the victim was whisked
off in a police service vehicle, much to the disapproval of the crowd
who rushed upon the vehicle demanding the man's release. "If you
ever did see him. Him dress hotter than you and me," one young girl
was overheard telling her friend."Nu worry man, we gi him a proper
[beating]," one man said proudly.

The man was admitted to hospital. However, a police spokesman
said last night that a group of people, who wanted to beat the
man on his release, were waiting outside the hospital, which,
he said, could delay his release from the health facility.

Yesterday's beating was the second such in a month in
western Jamaica. In the previous incident, several men alleged
to be homosexuals were chased, beaten and stabbed, resulting
in one of them being hospitalised, during the Supreme Ventures
carnival on Gloucester Avenue, Montego Bay. The men were said
to have gone onto the stage and gyrated on each other, angering
the patrons.