A gay Syrian refugee found beheaded in Istanbul had previously been kidnapped and raped, his friends said.

Muhammed Wisam Sankari, known to his friends as Wisam, vanished after leaving his house in the district of Aksaray on July 23. He was found dead two days later, a mile away from his home.

His flatmate Gorkem, who went to identify his body, told the Turkish LGBT magazine KaosGL: “They had cut Wisam violently - so violently that two knives had broken inside him.

“They had beheaded him. His upper body was beyond recognition, his internal organs were out. We could identify our friend from his pants.”