After his arrest Biko was held in custody in Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape for several days, during which he was interrogated. During his interrogation he was severely beaten by some of the policemen questioning him. He suffered severe injuries, including to his brain, and died soon after on 12 September 1977. News of his death spread quickly, and became a symbol of the abuses perpetrated under the apartheid government. Biko's position as an individual who had never been convicted of a crime led to the death being reported in the international press; he thus became one of first anti-apartheid activists widely known internationally.