LGBT+ rights groups say Islamic laws have been increasingly used to target the country's gay community, with a rise in arrests and punishments ranging from caning to jailing. The Muslim man in his 30s, whose name has been withheld by his lawyer to protect his privacy, filed the lawsuit after he was arrested in 2018 for attempting gay sex, which he denies. The man argued that central Selangor state, site of his arrest, has no power to enforce an Islamic ban on "intercourse against the order of nature" when gay sex was already a crime under civil laws. JAILED, CANED, FINEDThe man was among 11 men arrested on suspicion of attempting gay sex during a raid in a private residence in Selangor. Two women were caned for "attempting lesbian sex" under Islamic laws in the east coast state of Terengganu in 2018, the same year that saw a transgender woman attacked.

Source: bd News24 May 27, 2020 14:03 UTC