A Malawian judge has rejected a bail¹ application by two gay men charged with public indecency after getting engaged.

一位马拉维法官拒绝了一对男同性恋者的保释申请，据悉此二人订婚后因为公开猥亵罪而遭指控。

Steven Monjeza (L) and Tiwonge Chimbalanga (R) face 14 years in jail

Nyakwawa Usiwa-Usiwa said Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza would be safer in custody² while they wait their trial - expected to start next week.

The pair, believed to be the first gay couple in Malawi to start the process of getting married, pleaded not guilty不服罪 to the charges last week.

Homosexual acts carry a maximum prison sentence of 14 years in Malawi.

Denying them bail, Mr Usiwa-Usiwa said: "The accused have the right to bail but considering the public interest their case has generated it is the view of the court that they are safer in police custody than out there."

He said the pair would be given bail on 10 January if prosecutors³ had not finished investigating by then.

Cheering crowds

The BBC's Raphael Tenthani in Blantyre, where the case was held, says Mr Monjeza looked downcast气馁的，沮丧的 throughout the hearing and burst into tears when the magistrate地方法官，裁判官 remanded them in custody.

At their court appearance last week, the 26-year-old had hinted that he would consider calling off the proposed wedding.

"I am sad I am going back to Chichiri Prison," he said.

"The conditions are terrible there. People are exaggerating夸大，夸张 this thing. I may just as well dissolve this marriage."

After the latest hearing the pair were surrounded by hundreds of people who were chanting and cheering.

Our correspondent says Mr Chimbalanga, 20, who dresses in women's clothes, acknowledged答谢 the crowd with a wave as they shouted: "Aunt Tiwonge, Aunt Tiwonge".

The pair face three charges of unnatural⁵ practices between males and gross indecency猥亵，下流.

Malawi is a deeply conservative society but recently a group of campaigners came together to form a gay rights organisation⁶, Centre for the Development of People (CEDEP).

CEDEP's executive director, Gift Trapence, says the laws used to arrest the couple are invalid无效的 because they are against the Bill of Rights enshrined in珍藏，庄严载入 the 1995 constitution.

Correspondents say some voices in government have also started to call for more openness about homosexuality as the authorities try to tackle high rates of HIV/Aids.