JEDDAH — The Bureau of Investigation and Public Prosecution (BIP) said it is looking into setting the death sentence for anyone using social media to solicit homosexual acts. A source said the bureau has investigated 35 cases of reported homosexual acts, sexual harassment and child molestation during the past six months. "The bureau had also dealt with more than 50 reports of homosexual acts during the past three months, including men dressing up as women. The bureau has noticed a rising phenomenon of men being public on social media of their homosexual tendencies by posting photos of themselves," said the source. The bureau decided to increase the sentence of such acts to control the rising phenomenon. "The bureau has so far sentenced one man to two months in prison for dressing up as a woman. The man submitted medical reports proving that he has female hormones, which cause him to act effeminate. The bureau has also put four other men under trial. Three of them are under trial for dressing up as women, obtaining homosexual pornographic content and committing forbidden and vile acts," said the source. The source also said the fourth man is under trial for withholding such information from the authorities. "A doctor was also accused of supporting homosexuality by hanging a flag of homosexuals' logo on top of his house in Jeddah. The bureau is demanding the man be sentenced for committing a religiously unlawful act. The doctor denied allegations of supporting homosexuality and claimed his children wanted the flag as decoration," said the source. The source said a citizen reported the flag when he saw it hung on top of the house. "A man in his 50s posted on social media that he is in search of homosexual partners. The bureau arrested him and interrogated him. He confessed to his homosexual tendency and previous homosexual acts. He begged the interrogators to pray that he finds the right path," said the source. A source from the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice said the commission received reports of two men and three women seen in a public restaurant where the women were not wearing abayas. "When the commission inspectors arrived at the scene, the group attempted to flee. Commission members caught them and realized that they were all men. Two of the men had women's clothes on, earrings, long nails and had shaved their arms," said the source. The source also said the men refuted accusations of being homosexual but the inspectors found evidence of their homosexual activities on their phones.
