M'sians Criticise Magistrate Court After Single Mother Of 7 Fined RM4,000 For Prostitution
She has to serve eight months in prison if she fails to pay the fine.
By Arisha Rozaidee — 23 Oct 2020, 06:42 PM
A woman in Kangar, Perlis, was recently fined RM4,000 for prostitution
According to New Straits Times, the 37-year-old woman worked as a masseuse and allegedly offered sex for the purpose of prostitution at a house in Taman Jaya Diri, Behor Temak.
She was arrested on 16 October, around 11.20pm.
After pleading guilty, she was taken to the Perlis Correctional Centre
The mother of seven, represented by two National Legal Aid Foundation (YBGK) lawyers, Wan Nursyaheedah Wan Najmi and Nur Diyana Ab Shukor, was charged under Section 372B of the Penal Code, as reported by Utusan Malaysia.
Magistrate Kamaliza Md Zain ordered her to serve eight months in prison if she failed to pay the fine, the local daily reported.
However, Wan Nursyaheedah asked the court to consider the woman's status as the sole breadwinner of her children who are between the ages of three and 17.
Several Malaysians have voiced their concerns following the Magistrate Court's verdict
One person wrote, "I strongly disagree on this verdict. She needs support, not punishment. [Currently], this judgement is definitely not appropriate or rightful."
"She resorted to prostitution probably to feed her seven children. Now she is fined RM4,000 and jail term. How does this help anyone? Definitely not her seven children," another user commented.
Another netizen said, "The courthouse should instead support her with the RM4,000 and guide her in a solution to solve her problems and lead her into living a healthy life with the support needed, not punish her! Where's rationalism in the courthouse? This kind of action is killing those people who need help! The more you [stress] and [depress] them by such punishment when they are sacrificing everything to survive, [it] will only lead them to suicide. Maybe you guys should think about her seven kids if not her!"
