A man and a woman, both married to other people, were caught allegedly committing khalwat in a hotel room during an early-morning raid by the Johor Islamic Religious Affairs Department (JAINJ) in a district in Johor.
The couple, both believed to be in their 30s, were detained at about 2.30am during inspections carried out by religious enforcement officers over the long holiday weekend.
JAINJ said officers knocked on the hotel room door, but the man only opened it about six minutes later.
He initially remained silent when officers asked whether anyone else was inside the room, before further checks uncovered a woman in the room.
“Both admitted they were not husband and wife, but claimed they had been longtime friends since their school days,” JAINJ said in a statement.
Further questioning found that the man was married and lived in the district, while the woman was also married and lived in Kuala Lumpur.
“More surprisingly, both claimed their respective marriages were in good condition and had no problems,” it said.
The woman was believed to have travelled by bus from the Terminal Bersepadu Selatan (TBS) in Kuala Lumpur to the district that afternoon, claiming she was returning to her hometown for the long holiday.
However, she allegedly checked into the hotel before the man arrived to meet her later that night.
The hotel room was registered under the woman’s name, with her clothes found inside the wardrobe. The man had also brought personal belongings with him.
JAINJ said the condition of the room suggested that the pair had already been there for some time.
Both were subsequently taken to the religious affairs office for further action.
The woman’s husband arrived to act as her guarantor, while the man’s wife also turned up for the same purpose.
The pair are expected to be charged in the Syariah Court for khalwat under Section 27 of the Johor Syariah Criminal Offences Enactment.
