Lesbians Caned in Malaysia for Attempting to Have Sex

Two young women have been caned in a Malaysian courtroom for attempting to have sex in a car, Buzzfeed reports.

Amid international groups denouncing the women's sentence, Malaysian officials previously delayed the punishment last month for "technical reasons." Nevertheless, the caning was metered out on Monday in a court in the northern state of Terengganu. Malaysia has a dual court system, according to Buzzfeed, that operates under both secular and Sharia law. The women were charged in a Sharia court, with adheres to strict Islamic rules that include harsh punishments for infidelity and homosexuality.

It's not clear how many strokes of the cane the women were forced to endure, but previous reports indicated they would be struck six times. The women, aged 32 and 22, were charged with violating religious laws and also slapped with a fine. They were arrested in April after being discovered in a car by enforcers of Sharia law.

The situation for LGBTQ people in Malaysia has rapidly deteriorated in recent years. Since a national election in May, a gay nightclub in Kuala Lampur was raided and a transgender woman was attacked (before the election a teenager was raped and killed in an antigay attack).