What do you think of Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin’s answer to my parliament question that the law that allows a man to be prosecuted for enticing a married woman should remain?
And what do you think of Datuk Seri Nazri Abd Aziz’s belief that police reports against MACC are lodged only to gain sympathy and discredit MACC as a cruel enforcement agency?
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The Star, Wednesday, October 21, 2009
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/10/21/parliament/4942254&sec=parliament
Reports by LEE YUK PENG, ZULKIFLI ABD RAHMAN, LOH FOON FONG and YENG AI CHUN
THE Government has no intention to amend a section of the Penal Code which prosecutes a man for enticing a married woman, the Dewan heard.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said in a written reply to Teresa Kok (DAP – Seputeh) that only one such case was reported last year, adding that this was an isolated case.
Kok had asked whether the Government had any plans to amend Section 498 of Penal Code which carries a punishment against any man convicted of “stealing someone else’s wife”.
The section states that a man who enticed, took away or detained with a criminal intent a married woman can be jailed up to two years, fined, or both if convicted.A high-profile case under the section in question was reported in August involving celebrity Daphne Iking, who was supposedly “enticed” by corporate figure Choy Khin Ming.
Iking’s husband, Ryan Chong, had accused the other man of “enticing or taking away or detaining with a criminal intent a married woman’’, an offence under Section 498 of the Penal Code.
The much-anticipated case will be heard on Dec 9 and 10 at the magistrate’s court in Kuala Lumpur.
This is pending a decision of the High Court for another magistrate to hear the case.
Certain quarters have questioned the constitutionality of the section, saying it was “archaic” and had no place in modern society.
Many thought it was an affront to women to suggest that they could be so easily enticed.
In another written reply, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Abd Aziz told Kok that from 2005 to last month, police had opened a total of 58 investigation papers nationwide on complaints that Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission officers had used violence on suspects.
“Up to now, no MACC officers had been charged or faced disciplinary action following investigations,” he said.
He also noted that it had become a trend for suspects detained by the MACC to lodge a police report against the body right after they were released.
“This is to prevent their confession from being used as evidence in court later. It could also be a way to get sympathy and to give an impression that the MACC is a cruel enforcement agency,’’ he added.
MACC will soon have the interview rooms fitted with recording device, CCTV and computer facilities in each MACC office.
It would also have comprehensive training for MACC officers to be familiar in investigative interviewing.
Err..Wasn’t Rosmah married to someone else when Najib met her ….and then…..enticed her?
Or was it that he was married to someone else and she had enticed him?
1) allowing the law to stay but not applying it consistently suggest a weapon to kept for situation as and when needed
the law was enacted at a time when women were regarded as property / chattel of men, something that is unthinkable now
perhaps Hisham thinks also since that there is no profit for him to revamp the law let’s look elsewhere
2) what do you mean “discredit”? we already know MACC has conveyed some cruel experience to witnesses only. I shrudder to think what they would do to suspects. Teoh Beng Hock, Mr Wong (Ronnie Liu’s PA) and the Indian chap who appeared at the Inquest
MACC has goofed up big time and it is them that is seeking sympathy. Do I sympathise with MACC? Is Ron Jeremy a virgin?