Education activist accused of khalwat after refusing entry to mosque reps

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 11 — A 25-year-old education activist was held for several hours by the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) and accused of “khalwat” after he refused to allow several unidentified men who claimed to be from a local mosque into his home.

He explained that four men, who introduced themselves as committee members of a mosque, went to his Bandar Sri Damansara, Petaling Jaya condominium on Saturday morning, after they allegedly received a complaint of “khalwat” activities going on in his home.

Khalwat is close proximity between unmarried couples that included at least one Muslim, and is a crime under Shariah laws.

However the four men became agitated when he refused to allow them in as they lacked the relevant credentials.

“The men who were in their 40s claimed that they got a complaint of khalwat from the public, asked for our identification cards and asked to be allowed into my house.

“Only one of them had an appointment letter as the mosque’s committee member. Another one was dressed in shorts and was yelling, forcing me to let them in,” he said in an interview with Malay Mail Online’s sister publication ProjekMMO.

He added that Jais was now investigating the case and that he will be called to appear in court next February should they decide to pursue it.

“Jais will investigate whether or not to continue with the case or it will be dropped. I’d much rather face the law than allow them to enter without a valid reason,” he said.

The man, who works in the media and film industry, also requested to remain anonymous based on advice from his lawyers as the case was still being investigated by Jais.

He explained that at the time, he was with three of his friends, a man and two women, one of whom was a Chinese national.

He and his friends were brought to the police station to have their statements taken after they refused the mosque representatives entry into the house.

In an interview with ProjekMMO after his release, the 25-year-old explained that the accusation of khalwat was “excessive” as they were merely eating at the time of the incident.

“They threatened us and tried to break into our home. During the incident, we were eating and they saw each of us sitting in from of our laptops but I don’t understand why they insisted on proceeding.

“My friends came over to my house to discuss business. I always make my house open for business meetings. So the accusations of khalwat most definitely is excessive, what more in broad daylight,” he said.

from Malay Mail Online | All http://ift.tt/2aYlZli

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