Two South African men are now being charged with murder in one of the most grievous attacks against homosexuals in recent memory.

The two men, Alex De Koker and Michael Erasmus, worked at a camp that advertised itself as a place to send "effeminate" boys and turn them into men. In reality, it appears to be nothing more than a gay conversion camp with little regard for human life.

A South African court is now hearing testimony over the latest death at the camp, which appears to have involved the starvation and torture of Raymond Buys, 15. By the time he was released to a hospital, his injuries were too severe and he died soon after.

"I sent my son on this course to make him a better man, to give him a better future," Buys' mother Wilna said in an interview. "I trusted Alex De Koker with his life."

The course she was referring to is known as Echo Wild Game Rangers course and was run by camp leader De Koker, 49. Erasmus, 20, was an employee of his. De Koker initially told Buys' mother that he was self-harming.

"Raymond was only allowed to speak to me on speakerphone," said Wilna Buys. "When I asked him why he was hurting himself, he told me 'Mum, I'm not doing it to myself.'"

Perhaps the most damning testimony come from a boy, Gerhard Ooistuizen, who shared a tent with Buys. Ooistuizen claims that Buys was beaten, electrocuted, chained to his bed every night, and in one instance, forced to eat his own feces.

By the time Buys received medical care, he had bruises and cigarette burns all over his body, a broken arm, was malnourished, and had sustained significant brain damage. The two suspects are now being charged with murder, child abuse and neglect.

"In the culture, if one is effeminate, then one is automatically perceived as gay," says South African human rights advocate Melanie Nathan.

What's even scarier is that this is not the camp's first death. Two other boys died there several years prior. One of the boys died from brain hemorrhaging while doctors found that the other one appeared to have been choked to death by a seat belt. It is not yet known why the camp was allowed to continue operations after the first two deaths.

Both suspects are pleading not guilty in the murder case of Raymond Buys, and their trial is ongoing at Vereeniging District Court.