Two women in Malaysia were found guilty of attempting to have sex and have been caned in the conservative north-eastern state of Terengganu.
The women were caned six times each at the Sharia high court after the sentence was read out. The sentence was carried out in the courtroom and witnessed by up to 100 people, including the public, the guardian said.
While women in Malaysia have been caned for sexual offences in the past, such as adultery, rights activists say this is the first time two women have been caned for attempting to have sex.
The caning has prompted an outcry from human rights activists. The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community is routinely persecuted in Muslim-majority Malaysia, where they are seen as a threat to conservative values.
It was the first conviction for same-sex relations and the first time a caning had been carried out in public in the state, Reuters said.
Malaysia has a dual-track legal system, with Islamic criminal and family laws applicable to Muslims running alongside civil laws.
The caning of women is banned under civil law, but allowed under Islamic laws in some states.
Amnesty International said the caning marked “an appalling day” for human rights in Malaysia.
“To inflict this brutal punishment on two people for attempting to engage in consensual, same-sex relations is an atrocious setback on the government’s efforts to improve its human rights records,” Rachel Chhoa-Howard, the group’s Malaysia researcher, said.
