The Women, Family and Community Development Ministry will monitor the implementation of the whipping sentence on Muslim women to ensure that it is fairly and judiciously done.

NONE Its minister, Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, said since whipping punishment was a sensitive issue especially when a woman was involved, the ministry would monitor such cases to avoid confusion and misperception of the Islamic laws among the public.

"The ministry understands that the implementation of the punishment is in line with the Islamic laws enforced in the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur.

"As the minister in charge of women affairs in the country, I really hope that the whipping sentence on Muslim women will be carried out fairly and judiciously," she said in a statement here today.

Yesterday, Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein was reported as saying that the whipping sentence had been carried out for the first time on three women on Feb 9 at the Kajang Women Prison.

He said two of the women were sentenced to six strokes of the rotan, while the other was sentenced to four strokes.

Hishammuddin said the three women, together with four men, had been sentenced to whipping under section 23 (2) of the Kuala Lumpur Federal Territory Syariah Criminal Offences Act 1997 (Adultery) by the Kuala Lumpur Syariah High Court between December 2009 and January this year.

- Bernama