A row erupted today over comments made by Muslim leaders in Malaysia that a husband could not be guilty of raping his wife.

The Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) had urged the government to make marital rape a crime, but Perak state mufti Harussani Zakaria said the move went against Islam.

"A husband has the right to be intimate with his wife and the wife must obey," he was quoted Sunday as saying by the Malay-language Mingguan Malaysia.

"If the wife refuses, then the rule of 'nusyuz' (disobedient) applies and the husband is not required to provide financial assistance to her," Harussani said.

Sharia lawyer Mohamad Zaidi Zain was quoted as saying that Muslim women were only allowed to refuse sex if their husbands were suffering from sexually-transmitted diseases or HIV/AIDS.

The Joint Action Group Against Violence Against Women (JAG), representing six womens' rights groups, has submitted a memorandum to the government asking for an amendment to the penal code to define marital rape as an offence.

"Husbands have the right to have sex with their wives but we want to remove the protection given to husbands who physically and sexually abuse their wives," Ivy Josiah, executive director of Women's Aid Organisation (WAO), told The Star.

Many cases unreported

Some 10 percent of the 700 domestic violence cases seen by WAO annually involved cases of marital rape, Josiah said. Many more are believed to go unreported.

"I believe many women may not want to reveal marital rape as it is not a recognised form of violence. It is an emotional secret that is not immediately told until we develop rapport with victims," said Mary Cardoso of the All Womens Action Society (Awam).

"If marital rape was regarded as a crime, victims could seek some form of redress and perpetrators will realise that they have no right to abuse their wives. I don't think any religion condones forced sexual violence," Cardoso said.

Sisters in Islam research manager Nik Noraini Nik Badli Shah said the movement received some complaints from women on violence in their marriages but many of them were ashamed to talk about it.

"If husbands feel their wives have been nusyuz (disobedient), they should not force or hurt them. The right thing to do is to lodge a complaint with the religious authorities," she added.