Violation of homosexuality law | Uganda police arrest 2 women accused of kissing in public

Nairobi: Police in ​Uganda said on Tuesday they had arrested two young women they accuse of involvement in same-sex acts ⁠after they were seen "openly kissing" in violation of ⁠the country's stringent anti-homosexuality law.

The East ‌African country enacted ​the Anti-Homosexuality Act in 2023, defying pressure from Western governments as well as local and international rights groups.

The two women, a 22-year-old ​entertainer and ⁠a 21-year-old unemployed colleague, were arrested on February 18 in Arua city in the country's northwest, police said in a ⁠statement.

Both women ‌were "involved in queer and unusual acts believed to be sexual in ‌nature, besides being allegedly seen openly kissing ... in broad ⁠daylight," the statement added, saying the alleged offences began last year.

Widely ‌seen as one of the ‌world's harshest laws targeting the LGBT community, ‌it carries a sentence of ‌life in prison for same-sex intercourse and imposes the death penalty in cases deemed "aggravated".

The aggravated category includes ⁠repeat offences, ⁠gay sex that transmits terminal illness, or same-sex intercourse with a minor, an elderly person or a person with disabilities.

Earlier this month a Ugandan court dropped a case against the first man in ​the country to be charged with aggravated homosexuality ​after finding that ​the accused was of unsound mind due to prolonged ​detention on remand.