Sharia court punishes carpenter with six strokes in Terengganu’s first public caning for repeated seclusion

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 20 — A carpenter in Terengganu will be the first person to be sentenced to six lashes in public after being convicted of repeat offences. seclusion (intimacy) crimes.

Senior Sharia High Court Judge Kamalruazmi Ismail sentenced Mohd Affendi Awang, 42, to six lashes after he pleaded guilty under Section 31(a) of the Sharia Criminal Offenses (Takzir) (Terengganu) (Amendment) Act, 2022. Berita Harian reported.

The sentence will be carried out at Masjid-e-Muktafi Billah Shah in Kuala Terengganu after Friday prayers and the end of the appeal period on December 6.

While announcing his decision, Kamalruazmi said, “Punishment in Sharia and religion aims to teach, educate and deter, especially for the criminal, not to repeat such acts and is a general warning to the public.”

He continued: “A believer does not fall into the same hole twice. You (Mohd Affendi) have been whipped and imprisoned before, but you committed the same crime. The first punishment should have led to repentance.”

The court also fined him RM4,000 along with a six-month prison sentence if he failed to pay the fine.

This is Mohd Affendi’s third seclusion crime.

On July 11, 2023, the Kemaman Sharia Sub-Court sentenced him to a fine of RM2,700 or three months in prison. seclusion conviction.

He committed the crime again on January 25, which resulted in the Sharia High Court sentencing him on February 19 to four lashes and a RM3,000 fine, with six months in prison if the fine is not paid.

The last case concerns a 52-year-old woman, with whom she was caught in a house in Kemaman at 1.40 on June 16.

Under the Sharia Criminal Offenses (Takzir) (Terengganu) (Amendment) Act 2022, second and subsequent halvat The offenses will be punishable by six lashes, a RM5,000 fine or three years’ imprisonment, effective Jan 1 this year.

While Syarie Deputy Chief Public Prosecutor Nik Mohd Shahril Irwan Mat Yusof filed the case, Mohd Affendi was not represented.