Sex change saves drug dealer from caning
A court in Singapore decided not to cane a convicted drug dealer after a medical report concluded that she was a woman. Singaporean law does not allow women to be sentenced to that punishment.
The confusion arose because the passport of Thai prostitute Mongkon Pusuwan identified her as a male. District Judge Bala Reddy handed down the sentence after the long-haired Mongkon, 37, pleaded guilty to charges including trafficking in cocaine and tablets containing ketamine, the report said.
The quantity of drugs in her possession was too small for her to qualify for Singapore's mandatory death penalty for some drug cases. Mongkon, who underwent a sex change from male to female a decade ago, was instead sentenced to six years in jail.
Men who commit similar crimes can be sentenced to caning. Offenders are strapped to a wooden frame and lashed across the bare buttocks with a rattan rod.