Rotan punishment to be studied, says Ramkarpal

KUALA LUMPUR: The punishment of rotan imposed by the secular courts on prisoners will be studied for improvements, said Ramkarpal Singh.

This comes after Hassan Abdul Karim (PH-Pasir Gudang) described the current form of punishment as "sadistic, primitive and inhumane".

"In our country, there exist two forms of rotan, one by the civil courts and the other by the syariah courts.

"The punishment of rotan by the civil courts should be abolished.

"As a defence lawyer, I have witnessed firsthand how much injury and extreme pain the rotan causes to the prisoner.

"There are some prisoners who are willing to have their jail term extended by a year just to avoid being caned," Hassan said when debating the Abolition of Death Penalty Act 2023 in Dewan Rakyat on Monday (April 3).

The amendments abolished the mandatory death sentence for 11 offences.

Instead, the courts will have the discretion to impose life imprisonment of between 30 and 40 years, including between six and 12 strokes of the rotan.

Hassan said that he supported the abolition of the mandatory death sentence and wanted to see the same applied to the penalty of rotan by the civil courts.

"If not now, I hope that through reforms and when the time comes, this punishment by the civil courts is abolished," he added.

Asked by Ahmad Fadhli Shaari (PN-Pasir Mas) on whether the rotan imposed by the syariah courts was uncivilised, Hassan disagreed.

"I have no problems with the punishment of rotan imposed by the syariah courts if done in accordance with Islamic jurisprudence.

"But the rotan by the civil courts is very inhumane," Hassan said.

In response, Ramkarpal said that the present rotan punishment was a policy decision.

"We will study the matter more in depth in the future," he said.

Earlier, Ramkarpal also said that suggestions to include the payment of “diyah” (blood money) to families of murdered victims would be looked into.

"The government is studying diyah and its cost implications to the government.

"More detailed studies are needed on the matter," he said.

He said that the diyah was in line with the workings of Section 426 of the Criminal Procedure Code which allowed the courts to order compensation awards.

Earlier, Abdul Latiff Bin Abdul Rahman (PN-Kuala Krai) suggested that diyah should be included as an alternative form of punishment.

Under Islamic jurisprudence, diyah is an alternative form of punishment where perpetrators are made to compensate the families of their victims if agreed.