19 Mar 2016

Muslim police harass transgenders in Malaysia

A short documentary by the UK's Channel 4 shows Malaysia's religious police imposing Sharia law on the nation's Muslims

A short documentary by journalist Marcel Theroux has been making waves on social media. The video shows enforcement officers from a state Islamic department rounding up Muslims who have committed khalwat—being in close proximity to another.

The documentary, titled "Muslim, Trans and banned" was produced under its "Unreported World" segment. The video has nearly a million views on Facebook.

"This is what strict Sharia Law looks like.Malaysia's transgender Muslims get some of the toughest treatment from the country's religious police - as Unreported World witnessed on patrol," says Marcel Theroux.

Transgenders interviewed in the video also said they have been repeatedly arrested because they were also Muslims and had been caught crossdressing.

Arrested transgenders are normally subjected to religious counselling and heavy fines, varying in degree according to each state's Shariah enactments.

"A man should behave like a man and a woman should behave like a woman. We must respect the divine laws and sharia laws," an officer said in the documentary.

Watch the documentary here: https://www.facebook.com/Channel4News/videos/10153595770011939/