Caning in Malaysia

Caning In Malaysia

Caning is used as a form of legal corporal punishment in Malaysia. Judicial caning, ordered as part of a criminal sentence imposed by a civil court on a male criminal, is the most severe form of caning in Malaysia and is always combined with a prison sentence for adult offenders.

A much less severe form of caning can be ordered by Sharia courts (normally spelled Syariah in Malaysia). Unlike judicial caning, Syariah caning may be ordered for women as well as men, but only for Muslims, including non-Malaysians.

Male students may be punished with a light rattan cane in school for committing serious offences.

Malaysia has been criticised by human rights groups for its use of judicial caning, which Amnesty International claims "subjects thousands of people each year to systematic torture".