A Thai prostitute escaped caning for drug dealing in Singapore after a doctor established that the accused, who was identified in a passport as a man, had undergone a sex change, the Straits Times reported on Friday.
Singapore's drug laws, which include the death penalty for possession of certain amounts of drugs, provide for different punishments for males and females.
While male offenders can be punished with up to 15 strokes of the rattan cane for drug-related offences, female offenders are exempt from caning.
The Straits Times said Mongkon Pusuwan's fate had been uncertain for weeks while the court waited for a medical report, which ultimately confirmed that the 37-year-old was a woman following a sex change operation undergone 10 years ago.
The Thai national was arrested close to the city-state's swanky Orchard Road shopping district last December and charged with trafficking 1.52 grammes of cocaine and 2.5 grammes of ketamine. Laws enacted in 1975 proscribe death by hanging for anyone aged 18 or over who is convicted of carrying more than 15 grammes (0.5 ounce) of heroin, 30 grammes (1.1 ounce) of cocaine, 500 grammes (17.6 ounces) of cannabis or 250 grammes (8.8 ounces) of methamphetamines.