Kelantan Records First Trans Woman To Be Dragged Into Court Over Gender Reassignment Surgery
The accused was charged under Section 18 of the Syariah Criminal Code Enactment (I) 2019 which criminalises gender reassignment.
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Kelantan has recorded the first trans woman in Malaysia’s history to be taken to court over the offence of gender reassignment surgery (changing one’s gender through surgical and medical means) under the Syariah Criminal Code Enactment (I) 2019, since the law was gazetted in 2020.
According to Malaysiakini, the prosecution of the first case took place at the Kelantan Syariah Court in Kota Bharu sometime in mid January 2026 involving an individual suspected to be transgender.
A source of Malaysiakini said the Kelantan Islamic Religious Affairs Department (JAHEAIK) arrested the individual earlier this year. The arrest was made during an operation on an event which involved a group of transgender people.
“It is understood that this case is still at the management stage after the accused pleaded not guilty to the charges against him,” said the Malaysiakini source who requested to remain anonymous.
The source also informed that the charge was made under Section 18 of the Syariah Criminal Code Enactment (I) 2019 where under the enactment, the offence of changing one’s gender is punishable by a fine of up to RM3,000 or imprisonment of not more than two years, or both.
Kelantan Exco: The Details of the Case Cannot Be Too Exposed
Kelantan Islamic Development, Dakwah, Information and Regional Relations Executive Councillor (Exco) Mohd Asri Mat Daud said that he cannot share details of the case openly.
“I do not have all the details and there are issues which cannot be shared openly,” he said when contacted by Malaysiakini.
The case was not made public, in line with Kelantan’s approach of rarely making public cases related to Syariah offences.
Meanwhile, Thilaga Sulathireh, the founder of LGBT rights group Justice for Sisters, who has been monitoring the case closely stressed that the law criminalising gender reassignment places a significant negative effect on transgender individuals in revealing their identities.
“These sort of laws will open up more space for sexual harassment and violations of privacy, personal integrity, and autonomy over our own bodies,” Thilaga said.
Kelantan’s Syariah Enactment covers a broad scope of crimes such as those that are sexual in nature, drug abuse, and offences related to aqidah or the Islamic creed.
Most of the Islamic regulations passed by Kelantan were declared unconstitutional
More than a dozen Islamic regulations passed by the northeastern state of Kelantan were ruled unconstitutional by Malaysia’s top court on 9 February 2024, according to a New Straits Times report.
Malaysia features a dual-track legal system, with civil laws operating concurrently with Islamic criminal and family rules that apply to Muslims. While Malaysia’s Parliament passes civil laws, state legislatures establish Islamic laws.
In an 8-1 ruling, the Federal Court ruled that 16 regulations in Kelantan’s Syariah criminal code were “void and invalid”. These laws included clauses that made sexual harassment, sodomy, desecrating places of worship, and having sex with a corpse illegal.
Then Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat however said “the decision does not undermine the position of Islam or the Shariah Court in the country.”
The court ruling was not challenging Islamic laws but was on whether or not the Kelantan legislative assembly had acted beyond its powers or jurisdiction according to the state lists in the Federal Constitution.
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