Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on Thursday denounced the caning of two Muslim women for attempting lesbian sex, a sentence that sparked outrage and raised fears about the treatment of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, New Straits Times reports. He stressed that cruelty was not the way promoted by Islam, while adding that a government should not portray Islam as an unreasonable and heartless religion. In Section 289 of Malaysia’s Criminal Procedure Code, corporal punishments against female prisoners regardless of age are prohibited. However, under Islamic laws, the caning of women is allowed.