KUALA LUMPUR, May 13 — Muslim women’s rights group Sisters in Islam today demanded that Kelantan’s Islamic Affairs and Religious Department (JAHEAIK) to stop policing women for their clothing choices after 39 women were slapped with notices for dressing sexily and behaving indecently in public during the fasting month.

“The obsession to control what women wear needs to stop.

“Not only does this practice humiliate and degrade the value of women, but the compulsive need to control what women wear also implies that she is mentally, physically and spiritually defective and a danger to the moral order of society,” SIS said in a statement.

The group also said they were concerned that the operation carried out in Kota Baru unfairly targeted Muslim women as no summons were issued to men who fail to guard their modesty by lowering their gaze as commanded by Islam.

“This discrimination unfairly suggests that women are exclusively to be blamed for social and moral ills within the community.

SIS said that JAHAEIK should make the effort to understand the realities of the community which they serve, as well as the systemic causes of social ills, which does not stem from how women choose to dress.

During the operation yesterday, JAHEAIK assistant chief director (Shariah law division) Mohd Fadzuli Mohd Zain told reporters that the women were slapped with the notices during a nine-hour operation.

He said 70 enforcement officers from several agencies such as JAHEAIK, Kota Baru Municipal Council (MPKB), state Welfare Department and the police took part in the operation which ended about 7pm last night.

39 women were slapped with the notices and need to attend counselling sessions in stages as set by the department while eight others were given a warning not to repeat their act.

He said the eight women were also warned not to wear sexy attires in public.

Fadzuli said during the operation two men were caught at a restaurant for not fasting.

He said the department would continue to carry out similar operations from time to time to nab those who breached provisions in the Shariah law.