Brain Ooze

52 amorous couples face jail for hotel liaisons

52 amorous couples face jail for hotel liaisons

KUALA LUMPUR: Fifty-two unmarried Muslim couples face charges of sexual misconduct and possible jail terms after being caught alone in hotel rooms by Malaysia’s Islamic morality police during a New Year’s Day crackdown, an official said Monday.

Scores of officers fanned out across budget hotels in central Selangor state before dawn on Jan. 1, knocking on doors and detaining unmarried Muslim couples who were sharing rooms, said Hidayat Abdul Rani, a spokesman for the Selangor Islamic Department.

The detained, mostly students and young factory workers, are expected to be charged with “khalwat,” or “close proximity,” which under Malaysia’s Islamic Shariah law is described as couples not married to each other being alone together in a private place.

“We chose to have this large-scale operation on New Year’s Day because many people are known to commit this offense while celebrating such a major holiday,” Hidayat said.

In Selangor, “khalwat” carries a maximum penalty of two years in prison and a fine.

The Shariah laws apply only to Malaysia’s Muslims, who make up nearly two-thirds of the population, and not to the Christian, Buddhist and Hindu minorities.

News such as this might have dawned to us as a normal occurrence.  We have always been bombarded with news like this, where islamic council workers and now a “morality police” raids hotels for khalwat cases.

But to foreigners reading this news, it sends a different image. What they read is.. “officials  raiding hotels”.. and they think that they will be awaken in their sleep to be greeted by police. Some of these foreigners are muslims… and there are some who are “non practicing” muslims… will they be charged? What’s worse, everytime a hotel raid issue is brought up, the Langkawi incident, where an old Caucasian tourist couple was asked to produce their wedding certificate or they will be hauled up to the police station, will be remembered.

Reading on the news, you will see the word “morality police”? Since when we have that!

You could say that they have a caveat at the bottom of the article about this law being implemented for Muslims only.. but the image of hotel room raiders have been set.