Eight young men who dressed as women and danced in public were sentenced to three months in prison and 10 lashes by a Shari’a Court in Kano on Tuesday.
The court found them guilty of “immoral dressing” and “disrespecting the religious and cultural values of the people of Kano.”
Reports say that the cross-dressers were arrested by the state’s Hisbah Board on Monday at a hotel where they were celebrating the wedding of one of their leaders.
The Hisbah spokesperson, Lawan Fagge, said they were paraded before the court and that they had also confessed to the charges.
The judge, Mallam Sani Tamim Sani Hausawa, said the punishment was meant to deter others from engaging in such acts that are offensive under the Kano state Shari’a law and insensitive to the norms and traditions of the people.
The acting commander of the Hisbah, Mujahideen Aminu Abubakar, commended the court and vowed to continue the crackdown on any form of immorality in the state.
The Hisbah has recently raided night clubs in Sabon Gari area and arrested 43 people, including females, for prostitution and selling alcohol.
The board has also destroyed over six million bottles of alcoholic drinks worth N4 million in recent times. Alcohol is banned under the state’s Shari’a law.
