A lesbian couple in Nigeria will be whipped 20 times before they begin their 6 months in jail.
Pink News and ROP reported:
Two women in Kaduna, Nigeria have been sentenced to six months in prison and 20 lashes each for having a lesbian relationship.
The Sharia court said that Malama Hauwa and Hajiya Ai’sha were violating the tenets of Islam and the teachings of Sharia law.
The women claimed in court to have been married for five years. Ai’sha said she had paid a dowry of 5,000 Nigerian naira (£21) to her ‘wife’ at the start of their relationship.
However, she also said she also has sex with men, and denied she is a member of any “group or association of lesbians, saying although there could be many others who practised same-sex love, she had no knowledge of the existence of any near her,” reports Nigerian newspaper Punch.
Their relationship came to the attention of the police when Ai’sha became concerned that Hauwa may be about to leave her and demanded the return of the dowry.
Weasel Zippers expects to see a huge amount of liberal outrage over this verdict.