To his friends and colleagues in Turkmenistan, Kamil is a successful cardiologist working at a prestigious clinic and an eligible bachelor from a well-connected family. Only a few people in his close family circle are aware of Kamil's real struggle: He is secretly gay.

In Turkmenistan, where homosexuality is a crime and shunned by the Central Asian country's conservative society, being gay means having to choose between living a lie or facing up to two years in prison and a lifetime of disgrace.

The 24-year-old native of the Turkmen capital, Ashgabat, spoke to RFE/RL about his ordeal, which includes being beaten up by police and coming under pressure by his parents to marry a woman in order to conceal his sexual identity. "I have known since my childhood that I am gay, but it was difficult for me to accept it," Kamil said.

After finishing high school in Turkmenistan, Kamil went to Belarus to study medicine. He said it was in that authoritarian-ruled country where he finally "tasted freedom" about his sexual orientation and "began to accept" his homosexuality. After returning to Ashgabat in 2018, Kamil said he "found love" on a dating website and began exchanging romantic messages with a man.

"In our online communications he was very pleasant. We decided to meet in person," Kamil said. But Kamil's much-anticipated date ended in disaster. His online "lover" turned out to be a policeman whose job was to lure gay men online and bring them to "justice."

Turkmenistan hasn't dropped a Soviet-era law that criminalizes homosexuality. Along with Uzbekistan, they are the only two countries among the 15 former Soviet republics that consider being gay a crime. There are several reports of gay men in Turkmenistan being subjected to physical and verbal abuse both by police and fellow citizens.

"We decided to meet at 7 p.m. and when I went to the agreed place, he wasn't there. I called him and he said he was on his way," Kamil recalled. "Then two plainclothes police officers came to me, handcuffed me, and drove me to a police station. They beat me up and verbally abused me inside the police vehicle and the beating continued at the police station," he said. "They also gave me electric shocks." Read more via RFERL