KUALA TERENGGANU: The Syariah High Court here today has issued a warrant of arrest against a construction worker, who is also the first person in the state to be sentenced to whipping, for failing to attend a hearing related to repeated khalwat (close proximity) offences.
The order was issued by Senior Judge Kamalruazmi Ismail, after the deputy syariah prosecutor requested an arrest warrant against Mohd Affendi Awang, 42.
The court also issued the arrest warrant against Mohd Affendi's surety and set Nov 20 as mention.
This is the accused's third offence, having previously been convicted of the same offence in February.
Mohd Affendi was previously sentenced to four strokes of the rotan and fined RM3,000 after he pleaded guilty to a charge under Section 31(a) of the Syariah Criminal Offences (Takzir) (Amendment Enactment 2022 for khalwat.
Mohd Affendi was also fined RM2,700, in default three months' imprisonment, after he pleaded guilty to another khalwat charge on July 11 last year.