A man and a woman suspected of khalwat in a Johor hotel were caught after religious enforcement officers were forced to break down their locked room door following more than 30 minutes of unsuccessful attempts to gain entry.
The incident happened at around 1.15am during a routine spot check by the Johor Islamic Religious Affairs Department (JAINJ).
According to a statement by JAINJ enforcement officers, they initially knocked on the door and greeted the occupants but received no response.
After five minutes, they requested a duplicate key from hotel staff, but were still unable to open the door as it had been firmly locked from the inside.
The officers then contacted police from the Kluang district police headquarters (IPD), who arrived about five minutes later.
Despite repeated calls and warnings from both the religious officers and police, the occupants continued to refuse to co-operate.
The situation took a potentially dangerous turn when an officer stationed outside the hotel noticed a man attempting to escape through a window on the third floor.
The officers quickly shone a torchlight towards him, preventing his escape and forcing him to climb back into the room.
JAINJ said the man’s attempt was particularly dangerous as a misstep could have caused him to fall from the third floor.
After issuing repeated warnings and waiting for more than 30 minutes, the enforcement team eventually forced the hotel room door open.
Inside, they found the room brightly lit, with a man sitting on a chair and a woman on the bed. Both were wearing long trousers and T-shirts.
Further checks revealed that the man, believed to be in his 30s, was a divorcee living in Johor Bahru, while the woman, in her 40s, was a divorcee from Perak who resided in Kluang.
The pair admitted that they were not married but claimed they were merely resting and had not engaged in any improper activities.
When asked whether they intended to marry, both shook their heads, indicating that they had no such plans, according to the statement.
Checks also found that the man had a previous record related to drug offences and had served a prison sentence.
Both were subsequently detained under Section 27 of the Johor Syariah Criminal Offences Enactment on suspicion of khalwat. A police report was also lodged at IPD Kluang.
