New developments in the case of two young men burned alive in Baloum.

On Thursday, June 25, chief Baloum and eight others accused in the case were indicted and sent to the central prison of Dschang. According to the family lawyer of Steve Diffo, the chief and his co-defendants face charges of murder, torture, complicity in murder and torture, and lack of national identification. “No human being, even one sentenced to death by normative justice, should suffer such a fate,” the lawyer stated.

At the heart of the case are Bostel Kemta and his friend Steve Achille Diffo Sijamo. The two men in their thirties were abducted, tortured, and burned alive on June 5 in Baloum, Western Cameroon, by a group of local residents, reportedly under the watch of village chief Charles Constant Pokam Noussi. Accused of involvement, he surrendered to authorities on Wednesday, June 17.

The family filed two complaints. The first was lodged with the gendarmerie brigade in Penka-Miche, the district capital that includes Baloum village, where the incident occurred. The second complaint was submitted to the state prosecutor, who expressed surprise at not having been informed of such serious events.