A 42-year-old Malaysian widower will be the first person in Terengganu to be whipped in public for repeated Khalwat.
The sentence was handed down by Senior Judge of the Terengganu Syariah High Court, Kamalruazmi Ismail, after the accused, Mohd Affendi Awang, 42, pleaded guilty to the charge under Section 31 (a) of the Syariah Criminal Offenses (Tazir) (Terengganu) Enactment Amendment 2022 for committing Khalwat (being caught alone in private with the opposite sex who are not an immediate family member).
Affendi will receive 6 strokes of the cane and was sentenced to a fine of RM4,000, or 6 months in jail if he fails to pay the fine.
The whipping sentence will be carried out at Masjid Al-Muktafi Billah Shah in Kuala Terengganu on December 6, following the Friday prayers, after the appeal period has ended.
According to the Judge, the public caning is in no way to embarrass the offender.
“In delivering any punishment, the primary objective in Sharia is to provide lessons, education, and other forms of deterrence, ensuring that the same incident does not occur again, especially for the offender.”
As for Affendi, it was not his first Khalwat offence.
“No one falls into the same whole twice. You were whipped and jailed but you committed Khalwat again,” the Judge told Affendi, reported Berita Harian.
Previously, the accused was fined RM2,700 or sentenced to three months in prison after pleading guilty to a Khalwat charge on July 11, 2023, at the Kemaman District Syariah Lower Court.
He then committed Khalwat again on January 25, 2024, in which he received 4 strokes of the cane and a fine of RM3,000.
On June 16, Affendi was charged with committing Khalwat with a 52-year-old woman at a house at 1:40 am.
Based on the Syariah Criminal Offenses (Tazir) (Terengganu) Enactment Amendment 2022, the offence of Khalwat for the second and subsequent offences can be punished with up to six strokes of the cane, a fine of up to RM5,000, or three years in prison, which came into effect on January 1.
