Crazy Laws in Africa

In Zimbabwe, it is illegal for the citizens to make offensive gestures to the passing state procession.

In South Africa, it is prohibited for young people wearing bathing suits to sit at a distance of less than 12 inches from each other.

In Morocco, it is illegal to kill a rat unless a person wants to eat it.

In Swaziland, young girls are prohibited to shake hands with men.

In Somalia, it is an offense to carry an old chewing gum stuck on the tip of one's nose.

In Sudan, a man and a woman cannot sit together without a chaperone.

Not voting is a punishable offense in Egypt.

In Kenya, being broke is a crime.

In Senegal, gay men are subject to eight years of imprisonment.

In Madagascar, it is illegal for pregnant women to wear hats.

Crazy Laws in North America

In New Brunswick, Canada, driving on the roads is not allowed.

In Mexico, clergymen are prohibited from wearing their religious dresses in public.

In Guatemala, men cannot sit on the back seat of a motorcycle.

In Jamaica, it is illegal to shoot the tie of a policeman.

Till the early 80s, it was illegal to exercise or jog, in Panama.

In Barbados, it is illegal to wear camouflage-colored clothes.

Public profanity is prohibited in Bermuda.

In Nicaragua, on knowing that a wife has committed adultery, if her husband does not divorce her immediately, he is prosecuted for his unwillingness to take proper action.

In Cuba, any restaurant which is not state-owned, cannot offer lobster on their menu.

In Belize, it is illegal for a man to have sex with or marry his own aunt.

Crazy Laws in South America

In Argentina, it is illegal for a man to marry his brother.

Watermelons are prohibited by law in Brazil.

In Columbia, drinking in a bar is prohibited from 2 a.m. to 6 a.m.

A man cannot have sex with a woman and her daughter at a same time, in Bolivia.

In Paraguay, dueling is legal provided both the competitors are regular blood donors.

In Peru, it is illegal to use hot spices in prisons.

In Ecuador, it is legal for a woman to dance nude in public, provided she covers her belly button with a piece of gauze.

Getting caught while bathing nude is a punishable offense in Guyana.

In Uruguay, a husband who catches his spouse red-handed with another man, in bed, is legally given an option to either kill both of them right away or to chop off his wife's nose and castrate her lover.

In Suriname, a widow wanting to remarry has to first sleep with the man.

Crazy Laws in Europe

It is illegal to flush the toilet after 10 p.m., in Switzerland.

In England, most goods are not allowed to be sold on Sundays, except carrots.

It is illegal to spay one's female dog or cat in Norway.

Prostitution is legal, only if the prostitute agrees to pay taxes, in Netherlands.

In Greece, it is illegal to hit a Turkish national with a phalanx, except on alternate Mondays.

In Italy, a man who wears a shirt, may be arrested.

Wearing a mask is illegal in Germany.

In France, it is illegal to name a pig as Napoleon.

In Sweden, one needs to get a license from the government in order to paint his own house.

In Turkey, it is illegal for the men over the age of 80 to become pilots.

In Scotland, it is illegal to fish on Sundays.

Crazy Laws in Australia and Oceania

In Australia, one cannot ask a person if his father was a criminal.

Only licensed electricians are allowed to change light bulbs in Australia.

In New Zealand, it is illegal if a cat leaves the house without having three bells around its neck.

It is illegal to spank one's child in New Zealand.

It is illegal not to be in a straight jacket, in Fiji.

In Papua New Guinea, deceived husbands are legally allowed to behead their wives' lovers.

In Soloman Islands, it is illegal to cut down trees with an ax.

It is a criminal offense to forget one's wife's birthday, in Samoa.

In Nauru, it is legal to sell bird droppings, and it is also a chief export of the country.

These laws surely make you think what was going on in the minds of the lawmakers, whether it was naivety or hypocrisy that led them to form these crazy laws.

By Batul Nafisa Baxamusa