KOTA BARU, Nov 1 — Sultan Kelantan, Sultan Muhammad V has consented to the Kelantan Shariah Criminal Code (I) Enactment 2019 to come into force from today.

Mentri Besar Datuk Ahmad Yakob said under the enactment, Shariah courts will have the power to hear the cases in which the punishments include a jail term of not more than three years and a fine or six strokes of the rotan.

"It is hoped that the enforcement of the Shariah Criminal Code (I) Enactment 2019 will be beneficial in strengthening the shariah law, not only in Kelantan but also in other states in Malaysia,” he said at the briefing programme on the enactment here yesterday.

Ahmad said the enforcement of the enactment was aimed at educating and bringing the offenders back to the right path of Islam, not just merely punishing them.

The enactment was tabled at the State Assembly in October 2019 before it was passed and eventually received royal assent on July 14, 2020, and gazetted on December 31, 2020.

There were 24 new provisions in the enactment relating to matters such as witchcraft, false claim, attempt to convert out of Islam, distortion of Islamic teachings, disrespecting the month of Ramadan, destroying houses of worship, intercourse with corpses and non-humans. — Bernama