A teenager was forced to have sexual intercourse with his mother in order to "cure" him of being gay, an LGBT rights group in India has claimed.
The practice of "corrective rapes" are on the increase, according to the LGBT Collective in Telangana, southern India.
Vyjayanti Mogli, a member of the Collective's crisis intervention team, told the Times of India: "We came across such cases not because they reported the rape, but because they sought help to flee their homes.
"It's usually a cousin who's roped in for this 'project'. In some communities in South India, marriages amongst cousins are common. Many times, a girl's parents may decide that she would be married off to a cousin soon after her birth. Now, if this girl happens to be queer and if it is found out that she is in a relationship with another girl, elders in the family believe having sex with the 'would-be' [fiance], even if it's forcibly, will cure her."
Other reports include a lesbian being raped by her cousin, and other females who were raped by their brothers.
The Collective says it has had 15 cases reported over the past five years but it was sure there are "many more" cases.
In some areas of India, homosexuality is forbidden, with gay sex punishable with up to 10 years in jail. India's Supreme Court outlawed gay sex in 2013, even though the law had previously been repealed.
