Roger Jean Claude Mbede, 34, died on Friday after his family removed him from a hospital where he was receiving treatment for a hernia.
Mbede was imprisoned in April 2011 after he was caught sending a SMS message declaring his love to another man.
Cameroon has strict laws against homosexuality and Mbede was convicted a month after he was arrested and sentenced to three years in jail. He was held in custody for 7 days prior to charges being brought against him.
In July 2012 Mbede was released from prison while his case was reviewed, he developed a hernia while in prison. In December the verdict was upheld and he was ordered to return to prison.
Two days before the appeal verdict was handed down he was beaten by four unknown men outside the University where he had returned to study. Rather then return to prison Mbede went into hiding.
Mbede’s lawyer Alice Nkom has expressed concern that his family may have denied him further medical treatement as they were ashamed about him being gay.
Neela Ghoshal, senior LGBT rights researcher for Human Rights Watch, has called for the Cameroonian police to investigate Mbede’s death in due to the reports that he may have been denied medical treatment.
