In the Muslim-majority country of Malaysia, a man was publicly flogged for spending time alone with a woman.
According to Reuters, after Friday prayers at a mosque in the Malaysian state of Terengganu, 42-year-old Muhammad Effendi Awang was publicly flogged for “kholut”.
Malaysia has secular laws as well as Islamic criminal and family laws that apply only to Muslims.
Father-of-five Mohammad Effendi was sentenced to six strokes of the cane and a fine after pleading guilty last month.
According to the local media, Muhammad Effendi was also given a medical examination before the punishment. The punishment was witnessed by 90 people present in the mosque. There was also a heavy presence of police on this occasion.
According to the report, in the state of Terengganu in 2018, two women were flogged twice in the presence of dozens of people in the courtroom for the crime of same-sex relations, which was raised by human rights organizations.
The ruling party’s vice-president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said public punishment for solitary offenders serves to teach people to follow the commands of Allah.
The Malaysian Human Rights Commission criticized the court’s decision, saying the sentence undermined human rights, dignity and the rule of law, as well as raising questions about the legality of public flogging.
