Malaysian jailed for marital rape

I usually read the news daily for anything interesting

But i rarely see anything about Malaysia (maybe because i’m reading the Australian news?)

Well, this is the 1st one i’ve seen for quite awhile

Malaysian jailed for marital rape
From correspondents in Malaysia AAP August 06, 2009 03:26pm
A MALAYSIAN man who forced his wife to have sex with him has been sentenced to the maximum five years in jail, in what appears to be the country’s first successful prosecution under a new law against stop marital rape.
An official in the sessions court in eastern Pahang state said the man was sentenced yesterday.

The New Straits Times reported that the sentence is thought to be the first under a 2007 law that makes it illegal for a husband to cause “fear of death or hurt to his wife … to have sexual intercourse.”

“We hope this will inspire other wives who suffer in silence to come out and seek justice for themselves,” Judge Hassan Abdul Ghani was quoted.

The September 2007 amendment to the penal code that made marital rape a crime was considered a small step toward women’s rights in conservative Muslim-dominated Malaysia.

Activists say it doesn’t go far enough because the law doesn’t stipulate a minimum sentence, which means a man could go to jail for as little as a day even if convicted.

The 35-year-old was also sentenced to 10 years in jail and three lashes of the whip for forcing his wife to have anal sex, the official said.

Anal sex, even when consensual, is a crime punishable by up to 20 years imprisonment in Malaysia.

The sentences are to run concurrently, she said. She declined to be named because she is not authorised to make public statements.

The newspaper said the man had pleaded guilty to treating his wife violently to have sex at their home in April.

Source: http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,25891797-1702,00.html

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