KOTA BHARU, Sept 27 — The Kelantan Islamic Religious Affairs Department (Jaheaik) has stressed that summonses issued against Muslim men and women caught for indecent dressing were meant to educate.
Its assistant director (enforcement division), Mohd Fadzuli Mohd Zain said the individuals issued with summonses from the department were only required to attend counselling sessions failing which, they would be hauled up to the Syariah Court where they risked being fined RM1,000, upon conviction.
“Previously, there were individuals served with summonses and after attending the counselling sessions, they understood the reasons and they did not have to pay the fine,” he said when contacted here today.
He was commenting on a recent case of a 30-year-old man who was issued with a summons by the department for ‘indecent dressing’ after he was caught wearing shorts in public, which went viral on social media.
The man claimed he had stopped to buy a burger wearing shorts as he was on his way to play futsal.
Mohd Fadzuli said the department’s action was nothing extraordinary as a total of 85 people had attended the counselling sessions from January to May, while 72 others were expected to attend the next session next month. — Bernama
