Spare the rod, spoil the child. In Kelantan, it is now a crime if you disobey your parents, along with other offences which have been criminalised.
The state government had implemented the Islamic Syariah laws by enforcing the Syariah Criminal Code Enactment (I) 2019 on 1 November. Datuk Ahmad Yakob, Kelantan’s Menteri Besar stated that they had selected retributive punishment (fair punishment) and restorative punishment in order to instil recovery and awareness into the Syariah offender, as reported by Sinar Harian.
The enactment had also been approved by the Sultan of Kelantan, Sultan Muhammad V.
According to a report by Astro Awani and BFM News, apart from disobeying parents, the new offences that have been criminalised are as followed,
- Sorcery
- Necrophilia (having intercourse with a corpse)
- Disrespecting Ramadhan
- Renouncing Islam (or any attempts made)
- Destroying worship places
- Distorting and twisting the Islamic teachings
- False accusation
- Misuse of Halal logo
- Having tattoos
- Bestiality (intercourse with an animal)
- Incest
If found guilty for any of these offences, the Syariah court will be given the mandate to hear the cases in which a maximum of 3 years of imprisonment, RM5,000 fine, or 6 strokes of the cane, or any of the punishments combined will be enforced.
“The enforcement of this enactment is not just to punish but also to teach, educate and tame the heart of the offender so that they can adhere to the Islamic teachings and return to the right path,” Datuk Ahmad explained.
Harakah Daily also reported that this enforcement aligns with the purpose to guide the offenders to not repeat the same mistakes in the future. In the meantime, it will also educate society to avoid any crimes, especially the horrendous ones.
Additionally, Ahmad also said that ever since PAS has been given the mandate by the people to govern Kelantan since 1990, they have continuously put in efforts to make Islamic law applicable in the state.
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