KUALA LUMPUR, June 11 — No man has ever been charged with hurting his wife to demand sex since Putrajaya made it a crime to do so in 2007, DAP MP Teo Nie Ching said after the government again announced it will not criminalise marital rape.

Citing the Home Ministry’s parliamentary reply to her today, Teo said Putrajaya confirmed that no one has been charged under the eight-year-old law.

“Since this Section was introduced, no charges have been made in court under Section 375A of the Penal Code,” the Home Ministry reply sighted by Malay Mail Online said, referring to the law that came into effect on September 7, 2007.

Under Section 375A of the Penal Code, a man who uses harm or the threat of violence to obtain sex from his wife, or any other person, may be imprisoned up to five years upon conviction.

Teo cited the Home Ministry’s statistics that showed four suspected Section 375A offenders were recorded for the year 2014, with one case classified as needing no further action (NFA), while three remain under probe. For the January to March period this year, the Home Ministry said three cases have been recorded, with all three still under investigation.

The Home Ministry did not provide the breakdown of suspected cases recorded for the same Section 375A offence during the period 2007 to 2013.

Teo said the figures showed that the Malaysian authorities are “reluctant to charge the husband” despite the introduction of the new section, adding that it showed “that not many wives really know and understand their rights”.

Responding to Putrajaya’s decision against outlawing marital rape, Teo also insisted today that a man forcing his wife to have sex should be considered rape.

“If a husband takes his wife’s money or belongings without her consent, it is theft. If a husband beats his wife, we call it assault and battery.

“So, why when a husband has sexual intercourse with his wife against her will, we don’t call it ‘rape’? Even sex worker has the right to say ‘NO’. Marriage is not a license to rape,” the DAP assistant national publicity secretary and Kulai MP said in a statement today.

In its reply to Teo, the Home Ministry quoted a special parliamentary committee’s findings that were tabled during the debate of the Penal Code (Amendment) Bill 2004 on July 12, 2006.

Among other things, the committee said it disagreed with marital rape being made an offence in Malaysia as it would be in contravention of “Shariah laws and other religions”, but recommended a new offence that would allow a maximum five-year jail term for husbands that hurt their wife or place their wife or others in fear of death or injury for the purpose of sex.

The Home Ministry also echoed de facto law minister Nancy Shukri’s reply yesterday that cited the existence of Section 375A, when the latter stated that the government has decided not to amend Section 375 of the Penal Code, which states that sexual intercourse between spouses in a valid and legal marriage cannot be regarded as rape.

While Teo said she respected a Parliament special select committee’s 2006 decision against criminalising marital rape, she said it is now time to review this position.

“However, it is now 2015, and it is time for us to review the existing provision so that our law is consistent with the developing concepts of human rights and equality,” she said, adding that both Nancy and Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Rohani Abdul Karim should initiate awareness campaigns to educate both men and women of their responsibilities and rights.

Malaysians are divided over the issue of marital rape and the subject became a hotly debated topic recently when some Muslims argued that, in Islam, non-consensual sex in a marriage cannot be considered rape.

The issue blew up after DAP state lawmaker Yeo Bee Yin launched a campaign with women group AWAM to educate the public about rape, which included a poster saying that non-consensual sex in a marriage was also considered rape.