GEORGE TOWN, Jan 9 — A senior Youth and Sports Ministry official was fined RM3,000 by the syariah lower court here for committing khalwat at a hotel in Batu Ferringhi here last April.

Datuk Salim Parlan, a former deputy secretary-general (strategic) in the ministry, admitted to committing the offence in a room in the hotel on April 16 at 5am.

Salim’s former personal assistant, Nur Diayana Norslan, 30, was also handed a similar fine for jointly committing the offence, according to a Bernama report.

In passing sentence, syarie judge Nik Bukhari Nashimy Nik Yahya said though both the accused had pleaded guilty, there was still enough reason to view the case as serious because both were civil servants who should be good examples to others.

They were charged under section 27 (a) of the Penang Syariah Criminal Enactment 1996, which carries a maximum jail term of two years or fine not exceeding RM3,000, or both, upon conviction.

The judge said their action had tarnished the image of the civil service and the sentence meted out should serve as a deterrent to others.