Two women from Malaysia were given six strokes of cane in court after they pleaded guilty to indulging in lesbianism.

The incident happened at the Sharia High Court of north-eastern state Terengganu in Malaysia on Monday where the two offenders were tried and convicted.

It is reported that, aside the canning in the presence of 150 witnesses in the courtroom, the young women, aged 22 and 23, were also slapped with a fine of 806 dollars (3,300 ringgit).

The punishment meted out to the women has attracted backlash, but the Chief Registrar of the court, Wan Wan-Sidek defendant the action, saying it was originally scheduled to have taken place on August 28, but was postponed due to technical reasons.

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The registrar said: “The power of the court has been enacted in [the] Terengganu state constitution … Sharia laws allow for women to be punished, they are just being educated and not tortured.”

Meanwhile, Justice for Sisters, a human right advocacy group insists the rights of the convicts were violated.

Member of the group, Thilaga Sulathireh is quoted as saying: “There’s a disparity and gap between Muslim and non-Muslim women.

“We are very concerned on how a lot of the punishment is carried out in the name of religion. What happened today was definitely quite shocking.

“It really is a sign of how human rights are regressing in Malaysia not only for LGBT but for all people.”

It is understandable that Malaysia took such an action against homosexuals because about 60% of its population of 32 million is made up of Muslims.