TWO Muslim women caught having sex in Terengganu will not be caned today after it was postponed to September 3, the Kuala Terengganu shariah high court heard today. 

The sentence, scheduled to be carried out today, was postponed due to “technical reasons” said court registrar Nurul Huda Abdul Rahman. 

There were unresolved issues between agencies carrying out the punishment and that it was better to postpone it, she said.

She advised both women, who appeared in court today with their family members, to arrive at 10am next week before the punishment is carried out.  

The duo, aged 32 and 22, were sentenced to six strokes of the rotan after pleading guilty to having sex in their car in Dungun on April 8. 

The case caught national attention as it was one of the rarest incidents of a same sex couple being prosecuted under the shariah court system.

The severity of the punishment has been criticised by rights groups, including the Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam), for being “cruel, inhumane and degrading”.

Defenders of the punishment stress that it will be carried out according to shariah precepts which are lighter than those in the penal code.

The two have also been fined RM3,300 each.

The offence carries a maximum sentence of a RM5,000 fine, three years’ jail and six strokes of the rotan.  

According to a past Sinar Harian report, the two had been caught in the afternoon in car the Arena Merdeka public square in Dungun, Terengganu. – August 28, 2018.