Aziz Al-Sa'afin: I got beaten up on K' Road for being gay. Photo / Newshub
Kiwi Newshub reporter Aziz Al-Sa'afin was viciously beaten at the weekend in a homophobic attack which left him thinking he "was going to die".
Speaking on The AM Show this morning, Al-Sa'afin described his night out with friends on K' Road celebrating Pride Week. He said: "I thought it would
be one of my safest places."
They were approached by two or three men at the Mobil station who at first made polite conversation, and then "before I knew it, my friend was on the ground getting bashed… pulverised".
"Then as I was walking towards him I got decked in my left eye. I got shoved back and I was still trying to make sense of the situation and as I was falling back I could just see my friend absolutely getting pulverised on the ground. Getting kicked in the stomach punched in the face. He was trying to protect (his head), he was in a fetal position," he said.
"Then another fist made contact with the right side of my jaw… they were yelling out 'fags, homos, you're going to hell.' I lost vision and sight and I had no idea where I was. I actually thought, and I don't say this lightly, but I thought I was going to die in that moment. It was a place I don't think my mind has ever been before."
