(CNN) A gay refugee living in Turkey has been found murdered, his body so mutilated his friends could only identify him by his pants, a local rights group said.

Wisam, who arrived in Istanbul about a year ago after fleeing Syria, went missing on July 23 and was found two days later in the city's Yenikapi district.

He previously had been threatened, kidnapped and raped, according to Kaos Gay and Lesbian Cultural Research and Solidarity Association (KAOS GL), a Turkey-based rights group. CNN is not using the victim's last name out of concern for his family's safety.

"We identified him from his pants... They had cut (him) so violently. So violent that two knives had broken inside him. They had beheaded him. His upper body was beyond recognition," said one friend, whom CNN is not naming for safety reasons.

"If you saw his body, if you even saw a picture of it, you would faint," said another friend, who asked CNN to identify him as Mohammed out of fear for his safety. "It was as if he was attacked by a beast."

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