Bahraini cross-dresser's head shaved in Kuwait

Manama : Police in Kuwait shaved the heads of three men after they were arrested for cross-dressing inside a major shopping mall.

The three, two Kuwaitis and one Bahraini, were held after security guards noticed three "women" wiggling as they walked while a group of young men were following and harassing them.

The unusual sight prompted them to check the identity of the "women" and discovered that they were men wearing women's clothes.

The cross-dressers, in their 20s, were taken to a police station where their heads were shaved off before they were referred to the competent authorities for investigation, local daily Al Rai reported on Wednesday.

Homosexuality is a social and legal offence in Kuwait, and cross-dressing is prohibited in public and media often report police swoops and court cases against those who break the rules.