Malaysia is mulling public whipping for rapists and those who commit incest, a report said yesterday after a recent case outraged the public and put the spotlight on such crimes here.

A proposal will be submitted to the cabinet next month, Dr Rais Yatim, minister in charge of legal affairs in the prime minister's department, was quoted as saying in the Malay-language Mingguan Malaysia .

"This (public whipping) has never been done before. The government has to decide on this before any amendment to the law," he said according to the report.

Rais said amendments to the Penal Code were also being proposed to set maximum jail sentences for offenders.

"We need to stipulate the maximum jail sentences without making any alternative available to the court... ," he said.

The move drew fierce criticism from the opposition who called the move uncivilised and likened it to punishment meted out under Afghanistan's former rulers, the hardline Taliban regime.

"Public whipping is unheard of in Commonwealth countries. It doesn't rectify the problem. It is Taliban-style, uncivilised and doesn't fit into the present age and time," lawyer Karpal Singh, who is deputy president of the Democratic Action Party, told AFP .

Amendments unimplemented

The Penal Code was last amended a year ago to make incest an offence punishable by a minimum of six years and maximum of 20 years in jail, and whipping. However the amendments had not been implemented, the report said

Rape is punishable by a jail term of at least five years and up to 20 years, also with whipping.

Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad called for public caning of offenders after a recent case of incest in which a little girl was allegedly regularly raped by her father, grandfather and brother. The case threw the spotlight on the extent of the crime in the country.

An angry Mahathir said: "I agree on a heavier penalty (including) displaying them in front of the public and caning."

He said the community should feel ashamed about such crimes, especially Malays, who are Muslims, and are blamed for most of the offences in this multi-cultural society which includes Chinese and Indian minorities.

There were 1,369 incest cases reported over the last four years, with 71 percent of the victims being Malay children under the age of 16.