A video has emerged in Ghana of a gay man being beaten by a mob and doused in animal blood, as the country’s MPs prepare to vote on what critics say could be the most draconian anti-LGBTQ legislation on earth. In the grainy mobile footage, which surfaced last week from Nkoranza, in northern Ghana, the 21-year-old man is trapped by an angry crowd, called an “abomination”, beaten around the head and then dragged before a traditional leader. The crowd then sacrifice a sheep and pour fresh blood and schnapps over the kneeling victim to “purify” him. The allegedly gay man is told he must pay for the animal, along with two dozen others, the ring leaders say. Activists in Ghana say the horrific incident is part of a wave of homophobic attacks that has swept across the West African nation over the last few years. Homosexuality has been deeply taboo in the highly religiously country for decades. But in a few weeks, parliament is set to debate a bill that could give a country many regard as a beacon of democracy and liberalism in a troubled region some of the most draconian anti-gay laws on earth.