A video capturing the brutal murder of a teen in Iraq has sent shockwaves on social media.
According to media reports, the victim is a 15-year-old social media personality known as Hamoudi Al-Mutairi, who was once dubbed as the "King of Instagram."
While authorities are yet to issue an official statement on the matter, many social media users speculate Al-Mutairi was killed because of his suspected sexual orientation.
According to Lebanese media outlet LBCI, Al-Mutairi was kidnapped from the neighborhood of Yarmouk in Baghdad.
In the graphic video, which apparently captures the victim's last breaths, he can be seen lying on the ground with blood around his abdomen.
When the man behind the camera asked about his name, the victim mumbled, "Hamoudi." The man then asked about the victim's male friend, named Sajjad.
Clearly in pain and barely conscious, the victim asked where the blood was coming from, to which the man replied, "Your guts are outside (your body)." Towards the end of the video, the victim asked to be taken to the hospital and requested to see his mother.
The details of the crime are yet to be confirmed by official sources and it remains unclear who is responsible for sharing the video.
*The video is available online but we choose not to share such graphic content in line with ethical standards.
While the motives behind the crime remain unclear, many social media users believe the victim was attacked because he "looked feminine" and the perpetrator(s) suspected he was homosexual. These speculations have not been corroborated.
It is technically not illegal to be queer in Iraq, but that reality has not impeded widespread - and often socially accepted - violence against LGBTQI+ individuals throughout the country.
The crime is considered the latest in a series of alarming murders in Iraq, where at least four prominent women have been killed in the past months.
Late in September, famous Iraqi model and social media star, Tara Fares, and Iraqi human rights activist, Suad Al-Ali, were shot and killed on two separate occasions.
Additionally, two other women in the fashion and beauty industry have died in mysterious circumstances in recent months. Rafeef Al-Yaseri and Rasha Hassan, beauty center owners, had both raised concerns over militias threatening this job, according to Kurdistan 24.