Two women accused of "sexual relations between women" have been publicly caned in Malaysia.
More than 100 people watched the caning in a Sharia High Court in Malaysia's Terengganu state, witnesses said. The Muslim-majority Southeast Asian nation is governed by Islamic courts in family, marriage and personal issues.
The unidentified women, aged 22 and 32, were sentenced on August 12 to six cane strokes and fined RM3300 (NZ$1210), according to a press statement by Amnesty International.
The women wore white headscarves and clothing and didn't cry when they were caned, Muslim Lawyers' Association deputy president Abdul Rahim Sinwan told the Associated Press.
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He said unlike caning under civil laws, the punishment under Islamic laws isn't painful and is used to teach people a lesson. But Amnesty International says caning is a "cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and may amount to torture".
"The caning of the two women is a dreadful reminder of the depth of discrimination and criminalisation that LGBTI people face in the country," said Amnesty International's Malaysia researcher Rachel Chhoa-Howard.
"As long as draconian legislation which criminalises Malaysians based on their sexual orientation and gender identity remains on the books, LGBTI people will continue to be at risk of this type of punishment."
Ms Chhoa-Howard has called on the Malaysian authorities to "immediately" repeal "repressive laws, outlaw torturous punishments, and ratify the UN Convention against Torture".
It comes after Malaysia's Religious Minister Datuk Dr Mujahid Yusof Rawa said to media last week that the Pakatan Harapan government has "never recognised" LGBT people, and that the only engagement the government has with them falls under "rehabilitation".
While Malaysia is perceived as a moderate and stable Muslim country, conservative views are said to be on the rise.
A transgender woman called Suki was attacked by a group in a southern Malaysian state recently, Huffington Post reported.
"They hit me and stepped on me repeatedly, I couldn't move," she told Reuters.
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