Kelantan mufti Shukri Mohamed says a proposal for underage girls who have consensual sex to face legal action when their partners are charged with statutory rape requires careful study.
The Penal Code provision on rape makes it an offence to have sex with a girl under the age of 16, commonly known as statutory rape.
Kelantan police chief Yusoff Mamat recently suggested that underage girls who have consensual sex should also face legal action when their partners are charged with statutory rape.
Shukri said while Yusoff was only expressing his personal opinion, it raised important questions of justice as well as the application of civil and syariah law.
“Personally, I feel the current law should be reviewed to ensure all parties involved receive fair treatment,” he said in a Bernama report.
Shukri stressed the need for parental involvement in cases of underage sex.
He also said it was crucial that social problems be addressed at the source, rather than only responding to them after such cases arose.
“Like the drug problem, the government spends heavily on enforcement, but we must also cultivate values and faith from the school onwards,” he said.
On Sunday, Yusoff said his proposal was aimed at sending a clear warning to teenagers against being involved in sexual crimes.
He said nearly 90% of statutory rape cases reported in the state involved consent by both parties, though the existing laws lean more towards prosecuting only the men.
