Court postpones caning of Terengganu lesbian sex case

KUALA TERENGGANU: Two women who were fined and ordered to be caned after they pleaded guilty to having same-sex relations here have had their sentence postponed to Sept 3.

Court registrar Nurulhuda Abd Rahman said the sentence had to be postponed due to "technical reasons".

"A few agencies will be involved in the punishment, and there are some technical issues that have yet to be resolved.

"Therefore, it was best to postpone the punishment to a later date," she said.

The women, aged 22 and 32, were supposed to be caned six times on Tuesday (Aug 28).

They have been released on bail as they await their sentence.

The caning is expected to take place at the Kuala Terengganu Syariah High Court.

On Aug 12, the Syariah High Court here fined the women RM3,300 and ordered that they be caned six times each after they pleaded guilty to the crime under Section 30 of the Syariah Criminal Offences Enactment (Takzir) (Terengganu) for committing Musahaqah (sexual relations between women).

This was read together with Section 59 of the same enactment for attempting to commit the act.

The sentence drew the ire of many human rights groups, including the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam).

Suhakam in a statement on Aug 15 described the punishment as humiliating and demeaning.

It was also reported that Amnesty International Malaysia described the caning as amounting to torture and called for the Government to repeal laws that impose punishment against marginalised communities.