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India has legalised gay sex, reversing a law from the colonial era that slams 10-year jail term on homosexual sex
Many people consider gay sex to be taboo in socially conservative India.
Five judges sitting at the country’s Supreme Court were unanimous in overturning the ban.
Delivering the judgement, India’s chief justice, Dipak Misra, said: “Any consensual sexual relationship between two consenting adults – homosexuals, heterosexuals or lesbians – cannot be said to be unconstitutional.”
The law had become a “weapon for harassment for the LGBT community”, he added.
One of those who challenged the law, Akhilesh Godi, said it was “not only about decriminalising, but recognising our fundamental rights”.
People who fought for a change in the law had braved the “worst sort of prejudice”, said Meenakshi Ganguly from Human Rights Watch.