KUALA TERENGGANU: About 100 people watched as the Syariah High Court here handed a lesbian couple six strokes of the rotan each.
The couple, aged 22 and 32 years, received their lashings in front of the court’s chief judge Wan Mohd Zakri Wan Mohd, senior judge Rosdi Harun, dan judge Kamalruazmi Ismail at Hall 2 at 10.10am.
It was the first such case in Terengganu.
Present to witness the punishment were the accused’s family members, representatives of the Bar Council, non-government organisations and the media.
Also present were state legislative assembly speaker Yahaya Ali, state syariah implementation, education and higher studies committee chairman Satiful Bahri Mamat and Kuala Terengganu member of Parliament Ahmad Amzad Hashim.
Earlier, the two accused arrived at the court separately at 8.30am.
They were ordered to change before undergoing the punishment executed by the Prison’s Department.
Last Aug 18, the duo were handed a RM3,300 fine each and six strokes of the rotan, respectively, after they pleaded guilty to the charge under Section 30 of the Syariah Criminal Code Enactment (Takzir) (Terengganu) Enactment, 2001 which was read together with Section 59(1) of the same enactment, for musahaqah (sexual intercourse between two women).