International Journal of Business, Economics and Law, Vol. 14, Issue 5 (December) ISSN 2289-1552 2017 9 THE STATUTORY RAPE LAW IN MALAYSIA: AN ANALYSIS FROM SHARIAH PERSPECTIVE Nur Aina Abdulah Sayed Sikandar Shah Haneef ABSTRACT Rape is defined as an unlawful sexual intercourse between a man and a woman without the latter’s consent and against her will according to sections 375 and 376 of Malaysia Penal Code. It is classified into three categories; statutory, non-statutory and incestuous. The statutory rape involves women under the age of 16 regardless of their consent. It is understandable that the statutory rape law intends to protect teenagers from being taken advantage of due to their tender age. In view of the upward trend in the statistics of such victims, amendments to section 375 and 376 Penal Code were made in 2014. However, from the reported cases, more than 50 percent of this category commit it by mutual consent. Therefore, the application of such a law on Muslims raises numerous juridical questions. Accordingly, the main purpose of this paper is to analyse the statutory rape law in Malaysia based on Shariah perspective by using qualitative research approach and adopts the content analysis design. The documents were obtained from various sources, such as journals, reports, books and statistical data obtained from Malaysian Ministry of Women, Family, and Community Development and Parliament Hansard. The books comprise of both Islamic classical and contemporary works and legal texts. The findings show that there are three crucial issues which are problematic in Malaysia statutory rape law from Shariah perspective: first, the issue of consent and determination age of girl; second, the punishment and justice for the male offender, and finally, the deterrence and issue of an illegitimate child. Keywords: statutory rape, rape law, Malaysia, Shariah. INTRODUCTION Rape is a serious crime according to the Malaysian Penal Code and could be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to thirty years according to the latest amendment in 2014. Conceptually, rape is classified under sexual offences, which comprises an offence relating to sexual desire between men and women. According to section 375 of Penal Code, rape is defined as an unlawful sexual intercourse between a man and a woman without the latter’s consent and against her will. It is classified into three categories; statutory, non-statutory and incestuous. The statutory rape involves women under the age of 16 regardless of their consent as stated in Penal Code, section 375 (g) as below; 375. A man is said to commit “rape” who, except in the case hereinafter excepted, has sexual intercourse with a woman under circumstances falling under any of the following descriptions: (a) against her will; (b) without her consent; (c) with her consent, when her consent has been obtained by putting her in fear of death or hurt to herself or any other person or obtained under a misconception of fact and the man knows or has reason to believe that the consent was given in consequence of such misconception; (d) with her consent, when the man knows that he is not her husband, and her consent is given because she believes that he is another man to whom she is or believes herself to be lawfully married or to whom she would consent; (e) with her consent, when, at the time of giving such consent, she is unable to understand the nature and consequences of that to which she gives consent; (f) with her consent, when the consent is obtained by using his position of authority over her or because of professional relationship or other relationship of trust in relation to her; and (g) with or without her consent, when she is under sixteen years of age. (Law of Malaysia, 2006) From the act above, it is obviously stated that the issue of consent is immaterial in sexual intercourse if it involves the girls ’ age under 16 years old. The determination of the girls’ age of consent by the law implies that they are incapable to give consent as they cannot comprehend the nature, quality, and consequences of the act. It is this type of rape which according to the statistics from Parliament Hansard in 2016, has not shown significant decline as shown below: AGE 2013 cases 2014 cases 2015 cases AVERA GE PERCE NT (%)