A 48-year-old male mosque attendant and a 51-year-old female cleaner have each been fined RM5,000 or sentenced to 18 months in prison after admitting to having illicit sexual relations inside a mosque in Bukit Piatu, Melaka.
The sentence was handed down by Melaka Syariah High Court judge Mawardi Che Man on Thursday. The two defendants, a divorced father of four and a married mother of eight, pleaded guilty to committing the offence between 8am and noon on multiple occasions from January to April 2026.
Before passing sentence, Mawardi reprimanded both defendants for committing the offence inside a place regarded as sacred in Islam, particularly in a room used for the management and preparation of bodies before burial.
He stressed that the location carried an important religious function and was supposed to be used for the final purification of deceased Muslims. He said the alleged acts were particularly serious because one of the defendants was responsible for preparing bodies for burial, while the other was tasked with cleaning the mosque.
The judge also expressed his disappointment and anger over the repeated nature of the offence. Based on the facts admitted by both defendants, the acts were not an isolated incident but allegedly occurred several times between January and April this year.
However, the prosecution proceeded with only one charge against each defendant based on the available evidence and facts of the case.
Under the charges, both defendants were accused of attempting to engage in illicit sexual relations with individuals who were not their lawful spouses under Islamic law. The offence was allegedly committed between January 1 and April 30, 2026, between 8am and noon, inside the mosque’s mortuary management room.
They were charged under Section 52 of the Syariah Criminal Offences Enactment (Melaka) 1991. If convicted, the provision carries a fine of up to RM5,000, imprisonment for up to 36 months, or both.
The defendants were represented by lawyer Muhammad Ammar Yaser Ahmad Nazri, while the prosecution was led by Melaka Syariah Prosecution Department Chief Syarie Prosecutor Wan Mahyuddin Wan Muhammad, assisted by Radzwan Abdullah.
According to the case facts, the pair were brought by officers from the Melaka police contingent’s Criminal Investigation Department to the Melaka Islamic Religious Department (JAIM) Enforcement Division on June 4 at around 4.30pm. This followed a police report lodged by the female defendant, who had initially claimed that she had been raped.
However, investigations later found no evidence of rape. Police concluded that the sexual activity had been consensual and was believed to have taken place repeatedly.
The case had previously attracted widespread attention on social media in June following claims that a female worshipper had allegedly been assaulted and raped at the location.
There were also allegations that the mosque imam had prevented the alleged victim from making a police report. Another claim suggested that the imam had replaced the existing mosque attendant with a new one, allegedly to protect the individual involved.
Melaka police chief Datuk Dzulkhairi Mukhtar subsequently said a comprehensive investigation had been conducted into the allegations. Police found that the evidence obtained did not indicate any element of force, meaning the alleged criminal offence could not be established.
