Selangor religious affairs exco Zawawi Ahmad Mughni told FMT that the imam had been asked to resign.
“I have just spoken to the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) director who told me that action has been taken.
“I am not sure of the details but I am told the imam has resigned.”
Commenting on the incident which led to an outcry on social media, Zawawi said no imam should take matters into his own hands.
“An imam should not punish a person before investigations are carried out, as by right we should give our statement to the police and let them handle it.
“An imam’s duty is to give advice and guidance to troubled individuals and not mete out punishments.”
Yesterday, the teenager, Daniel Iskandar, 19, was sentenced to jail for 10 days and fined RM4,000 by the Selayang magistrates’ court for stealing mosque funds.
According to the facts of the case, Daniel stole the money belonging to the mosque and hid it in the mortuary bathroom.
When he was caught, mosque officials apparently washed him like a corpse, and recorded the incident on video, which was circulated on social media.
Daniel, whose parents have been divorced since he was eight years old, lives with his grandfather who is in his 70s.
According to Daniel’s lawyer, the youth stole the money to buy medicines for his grandfather.
Meanwhile, the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) on Women and Children Affairs and Social Development expressed its concerns on the action of the imam as well as other mosque committee members towards Daniel.
In a statement released today, the PSC stressed that the public should let the existing legal and judicial system to determine the appropriate punishment for Daniel, instead of taking the law into their own hands.
“The public should not be the judge, jury, and executioner.
“Section 27 of the Criminal Procedure Code (Act 593) states that public arrest can only be made for unbailable offenses, and the detained individuals need to be surrendered to a police officer or the nearest police station immediately,” the committee said.
The PSC added that the action of the imam and the mosque committee members is likely to be investigated under Section 323 and 352 of the Penal Code.
“Nobody is above the law. Religious leaders need to set good examples too for the community.”