Malaysian flogged in mosque for crime of gender mixing

KUALA TERENGGANU, Malaysia: A man was flogged inside a Malaysia mosque on Friday after being convicted of an Islamic offence for spending time alone with a woman who was neither his wife or relative, state news said.

The 42-year-old construction worker was given six lashes in Malaysia´s conservative state of Terengganu after being convicted by a Sharia court, the official Bernama news agency said.

It was the first instance of a Sharia court-ordered whipping taking place outside of a court setting in Malaysia according to the agency.

An AFP journalist saw the man delivered to the mosque in a prison van after Friday prayers, wearing an orange inmate´s jumpsuit as he entered before a hushed crowd.