KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 20 — Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil today said she respected Syariah caning for illicit sex but pointed out that Islamic law also prescribes rehabilitation and counselling.
“Wrong is wrong, but there are many ways to handle the issue, including rehabilitation and counselling,” the Women, Family and Community Development Minister said when commenting on the caning of three Muslim women on Feb 9.
The Wanita Umno chief, while acknowledging that Syariah judges have the discretion to impose caning, described the caning of women as a sensitive issue.
She added the punishment also gave room to those who wanted to capitalise on the issue, by claiming women here have no voice.
Shahrizat, however, denied the caning of women would mar the country’s image.
“Only [the] narrow minded will see it that way,” she said, adding that it was far from the truth.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein announced last Wednesday that three women, who were found guilty of engaging in illicit sex, had been caned under Syariah law, making them the first in the country to receive such punishment.
Civil law does not allow for the caning of women.
The sentences was carried out on Feb 9 at the Kajang Prison. Two of the women were given six strokes of the cane while the third received four.
The women, together with four men, had been sentenced under section 23 (2) of the Kuala Lumpur Federal Territory Syariah Criminal Offences Act 1997 (Adultery), by the Kuala Lumpur Syariah High Court.
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