PETALING JAYA: A 42-year-old carpenter received six public lashes at the Al-Muktafi Billah Shah Mosque for repeated khalwat offences, marking the first such punishment under Terengganu’s amended Syariah Criminal Offences Enactment of 2022.
Mohd Affendi Awang pleaded guilty in the Terengganu Syariah High Court for committing khalwat with a 52-year-old woman at a house in Kemaman at 1.40am on June 16, as reported by Harian Metro.
Syariah judge Kamalruazmi Ismail, who presided over the case, explained that the main goal of Syariah law is to provide guidance and education as a preventive measure, ensuring the offence is not repeated by the accused and serving as a deterrent for the public.
“The first punishment (caning for khalwat) should have brought repentance,“ he said.
This is Mohd Affendi’s third khalwat conviction where his previous sentences include a RM2,700 fine or three months’ imprisonment in July 2023, followed by four lashes and a RM3,000 fine in February 2024.
For this third offense, the court ordered six lashes, a RM4,000 fine, or six months in prison if the fine remains unpaid.
The father of five faced the prosecution without legal representation, with the case handled by the Deputy Chief Syarie Prosecutor.
