Two Malaysian Women Caned For Lesbian Sex

A  image shows two women who were each caned six times after they pleaded guilty at the Sharia High Court to homosexual activity in the state of Terengganu, Malaysia. Photograph: Stringer/EPA

KUALA TERENGGANU, 03 Sep: Two Malaysian women were caned  for having lesbian sex in violation of Islamic laws.
The women, dressed in headscarves, aged 32 and 22, had pleaded guilty last month to attempting lesbian sex, forbidden under Islamic law. They were sentenced to a fine and six lashings of the cane.One of them breaking down in tears.
Rights campaigners said it was the first time women in Malaysia have been caned for violating a syariah regulation which forbidssame-sex relations.
Sharia criminal procedure allows the court to determine where the sentence will be carried out, and requires that it must be witnessed by a number of other Muslims.
Malaysian women’s groups Justice for Sisters and Sisters in Islam called for a review of laws that allowed the caning of women.
A trans woman was beaten up by a group of assailants in Seremban south of Kuala lumpur on August 15th, in what activists said was part of a growing hostility towards gay and transgender people.