Man receives 20 lashes for being gay inBauchi - BBC report

According to a report by the BBC, a 20 year old
man in Bauchi received 20 lashes seven years after
he stopped being gay. For real? My head hurts
from reading all these. Find the report below...
A Nigerian man has received 20 lashes after an
Islamic court in the northern city of Bauchi
convicted him of homosexual offences.
Under Islamic law, courts can punish homosexual
acts by stoning to death.
But the judge said he took into account that the
Muslim man, Mubarak Ibrahim, 20, carried out the
acts seven years ago, and had stopped the practice.
In Nigeria, homosexual acts are illegal under both
Islamic and secular law and restrictions have been
tightened.
Earlier this month, President Goodluck Jonathan
signed into law a bill which bans same-sex
marriages, gay groups and shows of same-sex
public affection.
The new legislation applies throughout Nigeria.
Most states in the predominantly Muslim north of
Nigeria have adopted Islamic law, known as
Sharia, since the end of military rule in 1999.
Along with Mr Ibrahim, 11 other Muslims and a
Christian man were arrested last month accused by
the authorities of being homosexuals.
He was also ordered to pay a fine of about $30
(£18).
Mr Ibrahim told the BBC he was relieved that
Judge Nuhu Muhammad had been lenient on him
and had not sentenced him to death.
The BBC's Ishaq Khalid was in court when Mr
Ibrahim was lashed with a whip, made of animal
skin smeared with oil.
Mr Ibrahim, who had pleaded guilty to the charge,
was ordered to lie on a bench, and an official
whipped his back in front of a packed courtroom,
our correspondent says.
Mr Ibrahim screamed in pain while being lashed,
but was able to walk afterwards, he adds.
The trial of two other men was adjourned to 23
January.
The fate of the nine other men arrested on the
same charge is unclear but on Wednesday the
Sharia Commission in Bauchi said the Christian
would be tried by a "conventional court", not an
Islamic court.