VIDEO | 4.39 min
Three women and a man want the Selangor Islamic Affairs Department (Jais) punished for wrongly arresting them and demanding money for khalwat (close proximity) when they were merely moving house.
Lawyers for Liberty's Latheefa Koya said the four, aged between 20 and 29 years, were arrested by two Jais officers just past midnight on June 22.
At that time, the man was helping the women shift furniture into their newly-rented house in Salak Tinggi, Selangor.
The man was outside and the women were all inside the house.
Following the incident, the women made a police report against Jais officers on Monday.
"We want the police to take action against abuse of power and cancel the whole attempt to charge them.
"Jais should also apologise for shaming them," Latheefa (left)told Malaysiakini.
She said that after the arrests, Jais sent the women a letter asking them to turn up at the Syariah Court on Dec 17 with RM3,000 each, the maximum fine allowed for khalwat.
It is not clear whether the four would be charged or face trial, Latheefa said.
Under Islamic law, unmarried men and women are prohibited from coming together in a secluded place, or in a house or room under circumstances which may give rise to suspicion that they were engaged in immoral acts.
Latheefa said that although Jais commonly arrests Muslims for khalwat, many victims have preferred to keep quiet, rather than speak up because of shame and embarrassment associated with the charges.
In this case, however, the women want to clear their names as there was absolutely no wrongdoing on their part.
The three women worked at a cosmetics shop in KLIA2 and the young man was a limo driver who had fetched them to and from work before.
As a good Samaritan, he was helping the women move their furniture when two Jais officers turned up, asked for their identity cards and arrested them with dubious evidence, Latheefa said.
“In this case, Jais is wrong to have linked them... It’s too easy to make a khalwat arrest. This is not the right way to combat vice.
“The whole idea of khalwat law is to fight vice. If this is the way, you are going to make sure that people are more careful and they are going to go deeper underground,” Latheefa told a press conference at the office of Lawyers for Liberty in Petaling Jaya.
'Women want to clear their names'
She emphasised that the women wanted to clear their names.
The eldest of the women, 29-year-old Hanisha Abdul Rahman, told reporters that Jais officials had overreacted but refused to back down when questioned.
“I asked them, how can this be khalwat when the man is outside the house and I am behind the gate, with two more of my helpers inside the house?” Hanisha said.
Latheefa said the four want the Jais officers to apologise or face legal action.
“We have been instructed to inform Jais, failing which we have been given instructions to proceed to sue them,” she added.
This evening, a caller claiming to be a resident living in Hanisha's neighbourhood, told Malaysiakini that the man was in fact inside the house when the Jais raid took place.
The man, who only wanted to identify himself as Zul, claimed some 20 people, who were were attending a kenduri nearby, had witnessed the Jais raid.
"The residents will decide tonight whether to lodge a police report," Zul said, adding that this would be to support Jais.
Three women and a man want the Selangor Islamic Affairs Department (Jais) punished for wrongly arresting them and demanding money for khalwat (close proximity) when they were merely moving house.
Lawyers for Liberty's Latheefa Koya said the four, aged between 20 and 29 years, were arrested by two Jais officers just past midnight on June 22.
At that time, the man was helping the women shift furniture into their newly-rented house in Salak Tinggi, Selangor.
The man was outside and the women were all inside the house.
Following the incident, the women made a police report against Jais officers on Monday.
"We want the police to take action against abuse of power and cancel the whole attempt to charge them."Jais should also apologise for shaming them," Latheefa (left)told Malaysiakini.
She said that after the arrests, Jais sent the women a letter asking them to turn up at the Syariah Court on Dec 17 with RM3,000 each, the maximum fine allowed for khalwat.
It is not clear whether the four would be charged or face trial, Latheefa said.
Under Islamic law, unmarried men and women are prohibited from coming together in a secluded place, or in a house or room under circumstances which may give rise to suspicion that they were engaged in immoral acts.
Latheefa said that although Jais commonly arrests Muslims for khalwat, many victims have preferred to keep quiet, rather than speak up because of shame and embarrassment associated with the charges.
In this case, however, the women want to clear their names as there was absolutely no wrongdoing on their part.
The three women worked at a cosmetics shop in KLIA2 and the young man was a limo driver who had fetched them to and from work before.
As a good Samaritan, he was helping the women move their furniture when two Jais officers turned up, asked for their identity cards and arrested them with dubious evidence, Latheefa said.
“In this case, Jais is wrong to have linked them... It’s too easy to make a khalwat arrest. This is not the right way to combat vice.
“The whole idea of khalwat law is to fight vice. If this is the way, you are going to make sure that people are more careful and they are going to go deeper underground,” Latheefa told a press conference at the office of Lawyers for Liberty in Petaling Jaya.
'Women want to clear their names'
She emphasised that the women wanted to clear their names.
The eldest of the women, 29-year-old Hanisha Abdul Rahman, told reporters that Jais officials had overreacted but refused to back down when questioned.
“I asked them, how can this be khalwat when the man is outside the house and I am behind the gate, with two more of my helpers inside the house?” Hanisha said.
Latheefa said the four want the Jais officers to apologise or face legal action.
“We have been instructed to inform Jais, failing which we have been given instructions to proceed to sue them,” she added.
This evening, a caller claiming to be a resident living in Hanisha's neighbourhood, told Malaysiakini that the man was in fact inside the house when the Jais raid took place.
The man, who only wanted to identify himself as Zul, claimed some 20 people, who were were attending a kenduri nearby, had witnessed the Jais raid.
"The residents will decide tonight whether to lodge a police report," Zul said, adding that this would be to support Jais.
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