18-year-old T. Nhaveen was due to move to Kuala Lumpur for University

A teenager in Malaysia has died following a violent attack in which he was beaten, burnt and raped for hours by his homophobic school bullies.

A group of young men aged between 16 and 18 attacked the teenager outside of a burger shop on Friday in a southern suburb of George Town in Penang, Malaysia.

Nhaveen was out celebrating with a friend, known only as Previin, after quitting his job so he could move to Kuala Lumpur and begin University the following day.

It is believed that the two friends ran into two classmates who had consistently bullied Nhaveen in the past for being “effeminate” and “gay”.

Reports say that six more people then turned up on motorcycles and all eight began to beat the two using helmets.

Previin managed to escape to Penang Hospital where he was treated for crushed cheekbones.

However, the group carried on beating Nhaveen until after midnight. He was brought into the hospital at 2 am by one of the attackers’ brother.

A report found that Nhaveen had been subjected to severe head injuries, severely burnt on his back and also a wound on his groin.

There were also signs of forced penetration in his anus, likely with a blunt object.

He was pronounced brain dead and has since passed away from the injuries.

Five of the attackers are under arrest but three have not yet been apprehended.

It is not clear what Nhaveen’s sexuality was, but the attack is believed to be motivated by homophobia.

In Malaysia sexual contact between two people of the same gender is illegal. LGBT rights are largely unrecognised in the county, with social attitudes being strongly influenced by Islam, the official religion.

Human Rights Watch has stated that “discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people is pervasive in Malaysia”.

Nhaveen had been due to go to University in the Malaysian capital to study music composition, something that was a great passion of his.

His sexuality is unknown, but a former teacher told Free Malaysia Today that he was often targeted and bullied in school because many people thought he was gay.

“He was soft but not gay, that is for sure. But he paid no mind to those boys and ignored them. But these boys (bullies) had their agenda, which was to make Nhaveen a ‘macho man’ based on their ideals,” the teacher said.

Hundreds of people gathered outside of the hospital before Nhaveen was pronounced dead to hold a candlelight vigil for him.

The attack comes after the Health Ministry in the country announced a competition which encouraged contestants to make anti-gay videos which demonstrated how to prevent homosexuality and transgender identities.

The competition, which would have awarded the winner with thousands of dollars, was criticised and has since been rolled back despite ministers trying to defend it.

Earlier this year a transgender woman was brutally murdered in the country in the city of Kuantan.

Over 30,000 people have signed our petition urging Malaysian authorities to bring Nhaveen’s killers to justice. Will you join them?