FALMOUTH, Trelawny – A cross-dreser was set upon and severely beaten by a mob in Falmouth’s Water Square yesterday morning.

Police who were called to the scene had to fire warning shots to disperse the stone-throwing, stick-wielding mob, which succeeded in tearing off the man’s black-and-white form-fitting blouse and jet black wig.

According to eyewitnesses, the man was spotted at approximately 8:30 am in the town centre apparently waiting for transportation. He was wearing heavy make-up, high-heeled shoes, a long pair of shiny earrings, a black leather jacket over a snug black-and-white blouse, a tight-fitting pair of jeans, a black wig, a pair of sunglasses and a handbag slung over his broad shoulders.

It was not clear yesterday how the alarm was first raised. However, the Observer was told that the assault began as soon as someone in the busy square shouted that the person was actually a man wearing female attire.

The news of the man’s presence in the community spread rapidly and in a matter of minutes scores of angry residents converged on the scene and began to rain blows all over the cross-dresser’s body with sticks, stones and whatever weapon they could find.

“Where is the police station at?” the frightened man screamed.

During the melee, the wig the man was wearing fell off and wads of newspaper stuffed in a brasserie to lift the man’s chest dislodged, while a cosmetic kit containing lipsticks of varying colours was thrown from a bag he was carrying, much to the amusement of the large crowd who stood watching.

“B***y boy fe dead,” persons among the mob shouted.

The sentiments were echoed by the rest of the riled-up crowd.

“Falmouth no pet no b***y boy. We no want none a them bout here,” one woman yelled.

After the mob dispersed, the victim was whisked off in a police service vehicle, much to the disapproval of the crowd who rushed upon the vehicle demanding the man’s release.

“If you ever did see him. Him dress hotter than you and me,” one young girl was overheard telling her friend.

“Nu worry man, we gi him a proper [beating],” one man said proudly.

The man was admitted to hospital. However, a police spokesman said last night that a group of people, who wanted to beat the man on his release, were waiting outside the hospital, which, he said, could delay his release from the health facility.

Yesterday’s beating was the second such in a month in western Jamaica. In the previous incident, several men alleged to be homosexuals were chased, beaten and stabbed, resulting in one of them being hospitalised, during the Supreme Ventures carnival on Gloucester Avenue, Montego Bay. The men were said to have gone onto the stage and gyrated on each other, angering the patrons.