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Divorced couple arrested in Malaysia for sharing hotel room under ‘khalwat’ rules
The offence applies to unmarried Muslim couples found in private seclusion and is punishable by fines, jail terms or caning
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A divorced Malaysian couple looking to rekindle their relationship were arrested for being alone in a hotel room after religious enforcement officers raided their hotel room in Johor in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Johor’s Islamic Religious Department (JAINJ) said on social media that officers detained the pair at 1.15am in a hotel in Kluang, following a tip-off about alleged immoral activity.
They were suspected of khalwat, an Islamic moral offence under Malaysia’s state sharia laws for Muslims that prohibits unrelated men and women from being alone together in private or secluded places where sexual misconduct might be suspected.
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It is also enforced in Muslim-majority Brunei and in Indonesia’s Aceh province through raids and surveillance by religious authorities
When officers arrived at the hotel in Kluang, officers reportedly knocked several times.
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“They continued to knock on the door and after about six to seven minutes, it was opened by a man dressed in a T-shirt and trousers,” JAIN said in its social media post.
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