Syariah Whipping
A Comparative Study on Whipping as Punishment for Muslim Women Offenders
Yuhanza Binti Othman, Ekmil Krisnawati Erlen Joni, Ida Rahayu binti Mahat
Faculty of Law, UiTM, Kampus Bandaraya Melaka
yuhanza255@melaka.uitm.edu.my, ekmil777@melaka.uitm.edu.my, idarahayu@melaka.uitm.edu.my
ABSTRACT
Imposing whipping sentence serves not only to punish the offender for crime committed but to deter commission of the crime in the future. There are various offences which are punishable by whipping such as rape, kidnapping in order to murder, incest, and others. The provision for whipping sentence exists in both Syariah and civil law. The Criminal Procedure Code 1999 contains clear provisions pertaining to whipping on male offenders only because Section 289 of this Code expressly states that women offenders are exempted from whipping sentence. The Syariah law, however, does not distinguish male and female offenders as regards imposing whipping sentence as all offenders shall suffer the same modes of sentencing when they committed any crime. Nevertheless, Syariah Court judges in Malaysia have been reluctant to impose whipping sentence on women offenders until recently. In 2009, the Malaysian public was shocked when the Syariah Court granted whipping sentence to Kartika Seri Dewi Sukarno, Noorazah Baharuddin for consuming intoxicating beer and three other women offenders for Sexual intercourse out of wedlock. The Syariah law in Malaysia has several provisions pertaining to whipping sentence for offences such as drinking intoxication, incest and adultery; however, there is unclear procedure on whipping Muslim women offenders. Thus, this research shall study and analyse the procedural guideline on whipping sentence for Muslim women offenders by analysing the existing law in Malaysia and comparing the law of whipping sentence in other countries. It is hoped that this research would provide a concrete description, explanation and recommendation in improving the
Yuhanza Binti Othman, Ekmil Krisnawati Erlen Joni, Ida Rahayu binti Mahat
Faculty of Law, UiTM, Kampus Bandaraya Melaka
yuhanza255@melaka.uitm.edu.my, ekmil777@melaka.uitm.edu.my, idarahayu@melaka.uitm.edu.my
ABSTRACT
Imposing whipping sentence serves not only to punish the offender for crime committed but to deter commission of the crime in the future. There are various offences which are punishable by whipping such as rape, kidnapping in order to murder, incest, and others. The provision for whipping sentence exists in both Syariah and civil law. The Criminal Procedure Code 1999 contains clear provisions pertaining to whipping on male offenders only because Section 289 of this Code expressly states that women offenders are exempted from whipping sentence. The Syariah law, however, does not distinguish male and female offenders as regards imposing whipping sentence as all offenders shall suffer the same modes of sentencing when they committed any crime. Nevertheless, Syariah Court judges in Malaysia have been reluctant to impose whipping sentence on women offenders until recently. In 2009, the Malaysian public was shocked when the Syariah Court granted whipping sentence to Kartika Seri Dewi Sukarno, Noorazah Baharuddin for consuming intoxicating beer and three other women offenders for Sexual intercourse out of wedlock. The Syariah law in Malaysia has several provisions pertaining to whipping sentence for offences such as drinking intoxication, incest and adultery; however, there is unclear procedure on whipping Muslim women offenders. Thus, this research shall study and analyse the procedural guideline on whipping sentence for Muslim women offenders by analysing the existing law in Malaysia and comparing the law of whipping sentence in other countries. It is hoped that this research would provide a concrete description, explanation and recommendation in improving the