"Justice is a habit whereby a man renders to each other his due with constant and perpetual will"
Throughout this week, I have thought about all sort of things. And most of them are very much related to what I'm studying right now - LAW.
Have you ever heard about an offence called Marital Rape??
In many countries including Malaysia, marital rape is a sexual offence (it's a new provision inserted into Malaysian Penal Code). Recently, there was a case involving marital rape; a husband was charged in April for committing two offences; (i) marital rape and (ii) committing carnal intercourse against the order of nature without consent (sodomy) and he was convicted last week for 10 years imprisonment and 3 strokes altogether. The case attracts my attention to share some information about it with you; not because I'm being sexist here (because I'm not), but because I believe that all men and women should know something about it.As I mentioned earlier, Malaysia is one of the countries that criminalise marital rape. Marital Rape is defined in Section 375A of (Malaysian) Penal Code as 'any man who during the subsistence of a valid marriage causes hurt or fear of death or hurt to his wife or any other person in order to have sexual intercourse with his wife SHALL be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 5 years'. Bear in mind that in law, the word 'SHALL' means mandatory. Prior to the insertion of the provision into our Penal Code, many non-governmental organizations (NGOs) esp. women organizations (AWAM,SIS etc) proposed so that the offence be included into our Penal Code as opposed to the exception to Section 375 of the Code which provides that sexual intercourse by a man with his own wife by a valid marriage is not a rape. I'm not sure whether the exception to the said provision has been repealed or not (because I only have the older version of Penal Code plus I left my criminal law classes long..long..long time ago.ehe), but I assume it has been repealed and replaced by the new provision (s. 375A PC). Due to my interest in this issue, I brought it into a general discussion in Jurisprudence tutorial class on the topic of justice. When we talk about marital rape, we can relate it with the principle of JUSTICE. It is within our general knowledge that the purpose of us having laws is to uphold justice and at the same time to regulate the society in a better way. Thus, if we look at the offence of marital rape and relate it with justice, the explanation will be longer than we expected. In the recent case, the accused (husband) was reported to have slapped, strangled, threatened and dragged the victim (wife) to their room before having sex without her consent (this is rape). Like I said, I'm not being sexist; but justice is my concern here.
Our class discussion (if we can call it as a class discussion with only few students participate in it) continued with a question by my lecturer, "Would it be an offence of assault or force if we are talking about the husband who causes hurt to his own wife?" as he seems to disagree with the insertion of s375A into the Code. I persistently answered his question by telling him that it's not a mere assault and force and it's not even a mere rape. It's called marital rape because you can see clearly both elements of force/assault and rape exist in the provision and of course, I'd say the punishment should be more severe. I can understand if somebody can't differentiate between marital rape and rape plus it's a new offence in Malaysia (Malaysia is quite left behind I must say) but you can't simply say that they are the same because they are not.This is why browsing through the Penal Code itself is important. I know some male students had looked at the issue as a rejection or skepticism to the traditional idea that a wife should submit herself to her husband. Whatever they think of me, I DON'T CARE! (it's one of the reasons why I never be interested in dating law students.hehe.NO OFFENCE.this is my blog, I can say whatever I like). Enough. I do believe that marriage is a sacred institution whereby wife should be loved and treated with love and respect, and vice versa. And yes, I know that it's a part of a wife's duty and obligation to fulfill the husband's need but the husbands should also know that it's part of their duty to show respect to their wives.
Islam is beautiful; and it provides the best way of life. There is a hadith reported by Abu Hurairah in which the Prophet said, "The most perfect of believers in faith is he who is the best in conduct and the best of you are those who are the best to their wives". Thus, Muslims particularly are estopped to deny the fact that wives should be treated respectfully. I'm sure all religions and beliefs promote the same thing, therefore one must agree that husband and wife should be given proper treatment by their spouses. It goes without saying that slapping, strangling, causing hurt, threatening etc your another half is unforgiven acts to women (including me.I can't imagine myself to be beaten etc); what more if those are done in the course of having sexual activities (it may be a sensitive word for some people but please be open-minded;for the sake of education). Be it love-marriage or arranged marriage, husband and wife are expected to be just to each other. According to my lecturer, he said that in most countries which criminalise marital rape, the wives who purposely refuse to have conjugal activities with their husbands are bringing up the issue of marital rape. I don't know to what extent this is true but in Malaysia, it's a settled law that the wife can only bring this issue before the Court if all the elements have been fulfilled (please refer to s.375A) and wives cannot simply bring it in the event where they refuse to carry out their duties. Looking at the whole picture, I hope you will be able to appreciate the importance of law in our life. And please, KNOW YOUR OWN RIGHTS. And bear in mind that, Man & Woman need each other.
newly-wedded couple: my BFF, Delima Radzwa & her husband
May Allah shower upon them blessing and cute babies!!hehe
A picture has thousands of stories
Kim Bum fainted on the set of Dream but don't worry, he's fine. I read somewhere that so far, Dream failed to achieve high ratings but Bummy's effort (with all sweaty and long hours training for the drama) should be appreciated. I wonder how my Lee Min Ho can still be standing healthy without any fainting whatsoever, although he's the busiest among the F4 (Kim Joon, Kim Hyun Joong & now Bummy were at least fainted once due to their hectic schedules). Maybe thanks to the ginseng and all sorts of herbs he swallowed everyday as he mentioned in few interviews.hehe
Korean Brangelina (Song Hye Kyo & Hyun Bin) are reported to announce their explosive relationship next month (September). Can't Wait!
The fact that I think only Youngseng, Kyujong & Baby Joon can sing (sorry Hyun Joong & Jung Min, I discredit both of you.ehe), they are absolutely beauties! Love this pic!
p/s: I can't wait to watch the drama esp after watching the teasers and press conference!!!
The more I look at him, the more I agree with Mino when he was asked in an interview about his first impression on his BFF, Jung II Woo. Mino answered, "He looks like a girl". How can you be so frank Mino?? But,one thing we can't deny; they are BFFs and they could still find time having lunch together (arghhhh..I wish I have recent pics of them together!!)
I can't leave my Mino behind.ehe. These are his behind-the-scene pics when filming for Cass CF with Jessica Gomez
he's a totally hottie in eyeliner!!!a way hotter than TOP of Big Bang
he's a totally hottie in eyeliner!!!a way hotter than TOP of Big Bang
Last but not least, Mino in Trugen Award (recently)
one word: HOT!
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